A Tree Falls in the Forest...

Is it possible for a question to be so deep that it's impossible to answer? Even the preceding interrogative sentence might seem unanswerable. Of course, "I don't know" isn't considered a legitimate answer. One can hypothesize or even guess, just as long as they don't say those three words which are prevalent in a teacher's worst nightmares. Here are a couple of examples of questions which are widely considered to be impossible to answer.

What came first; the chicken or the egg? This question is most often geared towards opinion. Obviously, we can't go back in time and document the appearance of the very first chicken, so answering this question is a matter of personal belief. A creationist might say that the chicken came first, because if the very first chicken was forced to fend for itself upon hatching, the species would have ended as soon as it began. Someone who believes in evolution, however, would say that the egg came first, since the chicken would have gradually evolved from its previous form a little bit more with each generation.

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? When I first heard this question, I thought to myself, "What a stupid question, of course it makes a sound!" But the more I thought about it, the more it made me think. This question, once again, is a solid "it depends". The question is quite vague, stating no unusual circumstances such as the absence of any life at all. Assuming that by "no one" it means "no humans", it is quite often that such a circumstance is presented. However, it seems far too obvious an answer. Since the question does say "no one", lets assume for hypothetical reasons, that there are no humans, and no woodland creatures. Sound is nothing more than vibrations set off by a disturbance in the area. However, vibrations don't become sound until they reach an ear. Sound is the ear's translation of these vibrations, so if the vibration doesn't reach an ear before dissipating, it never gets percieved as a sound. So the answer is no, assuming that by "no one" it means "nothing with ears".