we hear because there is sound or there is sound because we hear

If a tree falls in a forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? The answer is, it doesn’t. What happens is it creates vibrations in the air which then require the presence of a hearing system in the form of human ears to translate them into what we think of as “sound”. Similarly, if a beam of light reflects off a tree and there’s no one around to see it, only electromagnetic waves exist in the air. To create an image, eyes are required. In this way it has been argued that reality needs to be observed in order to realise its full potential of being. 

 Many animals, for instance, can see polarised light or hear ultrasonic sound frequencies which we can’t. Does this mean their perception of the world is richer or, to be more precise, corresponds to a truer model of what exists out there? 

    Actually it doesn’t because most such animals lack parts of our kind of vision. What can be said though is that their reality is different from ours and that if human eyes and ears could process such additional sensory information then we would be able to look deeper into the nature of reality.