wrap your mind around that one, dude

i've always been really into philosophy, i like thinking about pretty deep issues, but i was totally tripped out today. in sociology we were discussing a few different philosophies of social development and personality or the "Self".

well first of all, we tackled this question as it somewhat pertained to the "Self" and the sociological imagination. everyone has heard this question: if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise? i always had my answer to this: yes it does. i've always been a science nerd so i know how the laws of physics apply to the situation. the tree falls, it hits the ground, it causes vibrations, and the vibrations cause waves through the air which are sound.

today, my answer was changed. the tree doesn't make a sound because no one is there to hear it. sound doesn't exist unless there is something that can perceive it. the tree falls, the air moves, but there is no sound unless there is an ear drum for the air to bounce against. and it's only at this point that air hits the ear drum which goes through it's whole complexity of nerve pathways that it is interpreted by the ear as sound. so basically, there is no such thing as sound unless there is an ear to hear it.

this brings us back to the sociological concept. who am i? who are you? what is the very base of who a person is? everyone is given some sort of role based on their relationships with others. i am a student, but only when i attend class. i am a brother and a son, but only when i am with my family. people may think their master status determines who they are, but how does that role mean anything unless there is someone around to recognize it. when you are lying in bed at night with no one else around drifting off to sleep, who are you? what is the innermost you, and is there really such a thing unless anyone else is around to recognize it? much like there can be no sound with out an ear, can there be a "Self" without anyone else to perceive it?

i guess it goes along with existentialism, but it's not physical, just conceptual. do we exist if no one is around to see us? we are all one thing, energy, and a vast amount of forms. as animals, we are able to perceive that we exist, but is that a truth or just a perception? is life real or is it just an idea? how is a dream any less real than what we experience when we are awake? when we dream, we think it's real, so how do we know real life isn't just a dream?

too many questions that can never have a good answer.