this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
291 points (94.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26858 readers
1647 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected]. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

At work we somehow landed on the topic of how many holes a human has, which then evolved into a heated discussion on the classic question of how many holes does a straw have.

I think it's two, but some people are convinced that it's one, which I just don't understand. What are your thoughts?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 115 points 1 year ago (22 children)

1 'hole' if you can call it that. Imagine if the straw started life as a solid cylinder and you had to bore out the inside to turn it into a straw: if that were the case, you would drill 1 hole all the way through it.

Another analogy is a donut. Would you agree that a donut has just 1 hole? I would say yes. Now stretch that donut vertically untill you have a giant cylinder with a hole in the middle. That's basically now just a straw. The fact you stretched it doesn't increase the number of holes it has.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (10 children)

What if you bored from both ends of the cylinder until they meet in the middle?

There would be two holes until, at the moment of contact, it becomes one?

Does the method with which the straw shaft is created influence the number of holes it has?

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

No, topologically there would be no holes until the moment of contact. This is the same as there being no hole when drilling through from only one side until the surface on the opposing side is broken.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So how does one “dig a hole?” Straight to China? Or whatever is opposite of you?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Topologically, yes. Buy you could also go down a bit, make a lateral tunnel, then pop back up.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

So what you are saying is, if I dig a hole that doesn't go anywhere, then that's not really a hole?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In topology, yes. It must go through to count.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

That's fascinating. So most of what I would call "holes" are what, in topographical terms, hollows? Depressions?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Topologically, yes. Coincidentally, "Hole to Nowhere" is the best Talking Heads parody album.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Heh I will have to check that out!

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (18 replies)