THE SOUNDS OF WATER
Here I am again–your friendly neighborhood Youtube Influencer. Today I was lucky enough to hear some more sounds for the monthly challenge. “NOT AGAIN,” you may be thinking! But this time it isn’t just a bunch of mindless words and pictures. Oh no!
In this post I’m going to answer one of history’s most puzzling philosophical questions: Does water make a sound if only a doofus is there to hear it?
I think I’ve heard the sound of water, yet, as a professional doofus, I’ve had to question MYSELF as to whether I really heard it. Was I actually hearing the water itself? Or was I hearing water being manipulated by wind or gravity? Or was I completely delusional?
To eliminate the last possibility–the one about being delusional–I brought my phone along to record what I believed to be the sounds of water. Here are four audio-visual recordings. You be the judge.
I really like the sound of raindrops pitter-pattering on my rain gear–just as I love hearing them pitter-pattering on my tent. I was so lucky that it started to rain at the end of my ride so I could hear that sound. I’m sorry if you couldn’t hear it very well. You might have to crank up the sound on your phone or computer to hear the next bit of pitter-pattering.
There it is! Proof positive of the sound of water. I am not delusional.
The other part of the mind-bending conundrum–the one about whether I was hearing water ONLY and not falling or blowing water–was more difficult to prove. I had to conduct a highly technical experiment, which you will see in the next video.
The Philosophical Conclusion: The waterfalls and the falling rain made sounds. The windblown water made sounds on the shoreline. The motionless water in the dishwashing bin made NO sounds. Ergo, water itself is silent unless some other force is involved. On the other hand, what if science is superseded by doofusness? That’s a question for another day.
gregblood
Hi. My name is Greg and I ride my bike a lot. That is to say, I ride my bike almost every day. I go on long rides and short rides. Sunny rides, cloudy rides, and rainy rides. I like commuting, errand-running, day-tripping, overnighting, and touring on my bike. I ride on city streets, highways, gravel, single track, and snow with equal enthusiasm. Sometimes I ride fast and sometimes I ride slow. I try to keep my feet on the pedals at stop lights and I do not dismount when I hop up on a curb. I have a roadie bike, a mountain bike and a touring bike. I try to accept any challenge a bike ride can throw at me without complaint. But I don't like bugs.
9 response to "THE SOUNDS OF WATER"
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Nothing nicer than the patter of rain on a tent or the hood of my rain jacket. If I can stay dry at the same time.
Dry yes. More importantly, warm.
I’m wondering if the observation effect might be coming into play here. By the very fact that you are there hearing and recording these sounds, you are in some way causing them. Think about it. Very deep. I’ve been on the lookout for sounds on my rides, but have struggled to come up with anything that is NOT water-related.
“By the very fact that you are there hearing and recording these sounds, you are in some way causing them.”
Whoa! My brain almost blew up trying to fathom that concept. I better get out of the metaphysics business and just stick to being a famous Youtube Influencer.
Energy, you are quite correct, there is no sound without energy.
Good, good, good — good vibrations. 🙂
Did I just hear the sound of the Beach Boys?
I’m with you on the ‘rain on the tent’ sound, love it. Now if you could get sound footage of hailstones on a tin roof. that would be awesome.
Or how about the “clunking” sound of hailstones on my hollow skull?
Since I haven’t been on the bike for awhile, do you think I could get by with a tape of the sound of silence? Today it was cold and raining…no way I’d be out in it or I’d have to be popping Ibuprofen tonight. You certainly knock yourself out to come up with creative ways to meet the challenges.