What is the sound of one hand clapping?

[�sew�alm�as�]

What is the answer to this question, my friend asked me it and refuses to tell me the answer.

[�sew�alm�as�]

?

[bernardo]

It's a bit like the sound of a tree falling down in the middle of a forest when nobody is there to hear it - but quieter.

[jenstar]

Well, why don't you clap with one of your own hands and see what sound it makes?

[Quizmonster]

I seem to remember Bart in 'The Simpsons' was once asked this supposed Buddhist conundrum. He proceeded to do it...ie rapidly flapping the fingers of one hand against its palm/ thumb-base. Try it. It makes a sound remarkably like the sound of two hands clapping! Ok, you obviously can't get the same volume, but the sound is unmistakeably there. Mystery solved.

[hertz]

It is a Zen-Buddhist question, one answer is that even though one hand is individual, it still needs another one to clap and is incomplete without the other. Several other answers here: http://www.angelfire.com/md2/timewarp/sound.html

[SteveG]

The sound of one hand clapping is always the same, its the sound of the resistance it meets on its path that changes. Hey clever Eh!!