If a tree falls in a forest on top of a man asking a question, which is the lesser of the two evils?
another lovely quote...
"Philosophy is to life, what masturbation is to sex"
(can't remember who said it though...!)
Martin
Philosophy is to the real
world as masturbation is to sex. -Karl Marx (1818 - 1883)
Welcome aboard apparentlymartin, have a good and safe trip!
Maybe that's why the tree fell--use it or lose it.
If it isn't standing erect then - oh, oh!
If it is a big tree - other trees say - "Look how the mighty have fallen"
Do you have a tape, we can make millions!
And the poor tree said, "That's the thanks I get for standing up straight and saluting?"
Yeah, but look at the tons of seed it produced over how many years!
You see the tree would only fall in the forest if there were someone there who "seed" it !!
tree
Very funny, BOGOWo, but I wonder if Berkely used the conundrum of the sound of the fallng tree not only to prove that God exists (because at least HE hears the sound of the falling tree in the absense of human ears), but, at a more implicit level, he uses God, whose existence he assumes, to prove the existence of humans. If we didn't exist, then our absence would not require His presence. God would have no function (and therefore need not exist) if there were no humans.
I know: Such nonsense
jlN; not nonsense at all, you have just pointed out that without humanity to invent and justify it, no "god" would be indicated by any "need".
And since "humanity" could cease to exist at any moment, surely we should assess the universe, as we observe it, without referrence to the planet of apes.
see also:
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4977&start=10
Oh so that's the question. And all along I thought it was: "if a man says something and there isn't a woman around to hear it is he still wrong?"
It's called "masteroration" and he must adhere to self-flagellation!
For "man" in general, "wrong" is the default!
Oh silly men, don't you know that if a woman isn't there to hear you fall, being right or wrong doesn't matter because she wouldn't have listened in the first place?
Also, self flagellation will eventually cause things to drop off (yecchh).
Would you explain masteroration, BW? I have a feeling it doesn't require two people or two trees.
Setanta--is this absurd enough for you?
And all this time I thought self flagellation was the waving of a national flag till the bearer collapsed!
flagellation
BoGOWO, and I always believed it meant simply to whip oneself with a flag. One learns something everyday.