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?

  • GustavoM@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    A hole is an opening on (something), and a TUNNEL is an end that leads to a hole that leads to another hole and to another end. Therefore, it has zero holes, but one (very small) tunnel.

    • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      A tunnel is also just a hole. A long tunnel is clearly a tunnel (through a mountain, for instance).

      How short does the tunnel need to be, to no longer be called a tunnel?

      20 meters is a tunnel.
      5 meters is a passage.
      1 meter is an arch.
      5 centimeters is more like a doorframe?
      5 millimeters is definitely a hole.
      0.1 millimeter is a hole (like in a paper in a binder).

      • GustavoM@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        A tunnel is also just a hole.

        That is like saying that the sky is just a bunch of colors. Or that an orange is a football. What you are missing here that most things can be COMPOSED (!) of (various) other things…

        …unless you will reply with this with something like “That’s right! We are just a ball of flesh!”. Then eh… *shrug

        Your definition list was on point tho, I give you that.

        • PlutoniumAcid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This is interesting, Gustavo. Let’s try something: take a block of wood and drill a hole through it, then place it on a table.

          One could say, what is this, a tunnel for ants? They might be correct.

          Make the hole much larger, and one could say, what is this, a tunnel for model trains? They might be correct.

          I still say that a tunnel is one hole, not two, and not made of other completely different things. It also aligns with the donut explanation given in other responses. I disagree with you on the human meat balls, that is conflating two very different things.

          I’d like to know your two-hole arguments please?