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?

  • papalonian@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    A cup is essentially a self-contained hole that we pour stuff in, but if I say there’s a hole in my cup you’d know what I meant

    • motsu@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      From a topology perspective, a cup does not have a hole. A mug does, but its the hole that the handle makes, not the area containing liquid.

      • Badass_panda@lemmy.fmhy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I see a lot of folks referencing topology, but clearly topology is not a particularly good go-to for how to talk about holes.

        • From a topological perspective, a hole in the ground isn’t a hole… But you can still fall into it.

        • From a topological perspective, a hole in your logic isn’t a hole – but you can still have one.

        Clearly we’re talking linguistically, not topologically.