Lay Lines by Carol Lay for July 04, 2022

Draw in the sound effect, but in white over the white clouds.

If I see a picture of a tree falling when nobody is around, does it make a sound effect?

CRACK!!!

Ah yes, the age-old question.

It’s only a question if your definition of “noise” requires the presence of a person to hear it, which I always thought was ridiculously reductive and pedantic.

Yes, but only on the right side…I’m deaf in my left ear.

To me it’s simple: “sound” is a physical phenomenon representing pressure waves propagating in a medium (air, water, etc.). “Noise” describes the perception of sound by (probably) a human being. (If a dog reacts to an ultrasonic sound that humans can’t hear, we aren’t being very accurate to say a “noise” bothered the dog.)

If it’s too quiet, you can drum on the steering wheel or the dashboard with one hand…

The answer to the artist’s question could depend on whether the telekinetic felling of the tree occurred in such a way as to not create any vibrations which the brain of an animal would interpret as sound. If there are such vibrations, then it depends on whether our artist chooses to draw any living thing in her forest to hear the sound.

Depends on whether you are using a physical or a physiological definition of sound.

It’s a Schrodinger’s cat kinda thing.

If there was no one around to perceive it, would there be a tree? A forest?

love!