The Trip Was Good But...

The trip to Galion was fun and eventful including a flat tire and stripped nut, seeing Man of the Year (good flick), and reading countless books like my new favorite Bear in a Chair. But what I really want to talk about is the conversation Bobby and I had upon my return last night...it was amazing:

[00:39] Bobby: If a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

[00:40] Me: only if it falls on your head
[00:41] Me: but yes...the laws of physics tell us so
[00:41] Me: why do you ask?

[00:41] Bobby: Laws of physics also claim that "sound" is a wave, and what becomes the sound is when the wave hits an eardrum
[00:42] Bobby: ... so if it doesn't hit an ear drum than does it count as a sound or just a wave

[00:42] Me: oh we wanna get technical huh?
[00:43] Me: i guess the real question then is, what is the definition of "sound"

[00:43] Bobby: If you are to debate might as well debate on a technical lever instead of the level of an ape
[00:44] Bobby: vibrations that travel through the air or a medium and can be heard when they reach the eardrum

[00:44] Me: alright, well if sound is defined only as those waves made in the air hitting an ear drum then no...the tree did not make a "sound"
[00:45] Me: rather it moved air particles in a fashion that would produce the waves necessary to make a sound

[00:45] Bobby: I love you nathan

[00:46] Me: but then there's the chaos theory where you could technically claim that even that seemingly small instance when looking on a global scale may have not had an immediate impact on the world such as being heard, but that one impact and moving of molecules could have been the beginning of a series of events that would eventually in some way be heard
[00:48] Me: such as somehow being the catalyst of a landslide by way of causing a fly to change directions slightly, sending him straight into the windshield of a semi on the freeway startling the driver sending him off the side of the mountain he was driving causing the whole face of the mountain to begin sliding down toward the village below...then...the tree would be heard

[00:48] Bobby: Or in quantum mechanics the lack of sound will play out in every other manner possible in millions of microverses
[00:49] Bobby: I prefer the quantum mechanics view

[00:49] Me: alright
[00:49] Me: but what did you really want to talk about

[00:50] Bobby: Um, am I really supposed to know?

[00:52] Me: nope...i think it's better this way

* this conversation was slightly edited for readability purposes