Originally Posted By: abacus9900
however, can we really say that sound waves alone, without interacting with the delicate structures of a human ear and the central nervous system, constitute sound?


I feel sure we cannot say that, but I would not agree that the human ear etc. is a necessity, there are plenty of other creatures that must be able to convert sound waves into sound.

This is a bit of a diversion, though, as is sharing information with earthworms. The central question seems to be something like this:

Is there an objective reality "out there", or is it all in the minds of observers? Whichever side of that fence one comes down on, one must land on a multitude of other questions.

There never was nothing.