Spyke
reddthat.com

The colloquial meaning is different from a topological definition. Anything with a through-hole has a hole at each end. It's an ambiguous question because the answer depends whether you're referring to a openings in the face of the object (a cylinder in the case of a straw) or the void connecting the surface openings. Perhaps the safest answer is inclusive, so three. I've been told I'm not fun at parties.

145
lemmy.world

You could make infinite indentations in an object with zero holes. That's a very poor definition for a hope topologically.

23
lemmy.ca

And yet each indentation could hold something, like cheese or a kitten, so each indentation in functionally different from a smooth surface.

Deforming a shape changes it, thus topology is a special case of specifically ignoring most aspects of a shape.

15
lemmy.world

But more importantly, calling any indentation a "hole" is a case of specifically ignoring the special significance of actual holes. You can't pass through an indentation.

5
lemmy.world

Sure you can, they just gotta come out the other side. Otherwise it's just a fancy divot

11
aMockTiereply
piefed.world

If you were to tell an average English speaker that you were going to dig an indentation, chances are high that they would misinterpret your meaning.

On the other hand, if you told them that you were going to dig a "blind hole," I imagine they would have a much better understanding of your meaning and you would still be technically correct.

6
lemmy.ca

That's why we have the compound word "through-hole".

90% of important parts on living things are pockets and manipulations of surface area, two things completely ignored by topology. Topology is interesting mathematically, and has meaning for traversal and knot problems, but it's not really useful to describe reality.

4

That's why we have a diverse set of words such as "divot," "indentation," "pit," "well," and so much more!

Topology is a component of the language called "mathematics" we use to understand, describe, and model reality in concrete terms.

3

but it's not really useful to describe reality.

This is just not true.

What topology does for people practically, is it allows them to do a rough kind of geometric reasoning in a wide variety of cases. Further, the geometric notions defined via topology subsume many of the more intuitive notions you might already know of from the number line or the plane.

For example, continuity of functions, convergence of sequences, interiors and boundaries of sets, connectedness and many other things are inherently topological notions that any person who has taken a typical calculus sequence should have some intuitive idea of.

One of the biggest difference between actual pure topology and analysis is that analysis is just done in the context of really nice types of topological spaces called metric spaces in which notions of distance are available.

Any time people are using results of calculus in the sciences, under the hood they are using details about topology on R^n.

3
zecareply

but it's not really useful to describe reality.

Skill issue

really

1
blackbrookreply
mander.xyz

But it's a good definition if you are, say, putting a thing into each indentation. That's why the two definitions are different.

3
blackbrookreply
mander.xyz

You seem to not be getting that words can have multiple (even if related) meanings. When some science or other discipline takes a common word and defines it really precisely for their purposes, that doesn't change the definition of the common word for all usages and mandate that all lay people use it only with that discipline's more precise definition.

1

Quite true. It is also important to know the limits of the precision you are going to be getting.

1

It’s ok, the people who tell you that weren’t invited to any of the parties either.

14

That's right you're not let me help:

"The colloquial cloaca meaning is different from a topological Topsy-turvy definition. Anything with a through-hole has a hole at each end^snickering^. It's an ambiguous GAY question because the answer depends whether you're referring to a openings in the face of the object^more-snickering^ (a cylinder in the case of a straw)^obviously-unnecessary^ or the void connection the surface openings. Perhaps the safest most radical answer is inclusive, so three. I've been told I'm not fun at parties.'

3

I love the unabashed sharing of topical knowledge, so you're welcome to my party.

1
lemmy.world

But can you measure something that doesn't exist? Can the absence of something be something in and of itself? Is it the hole you are measuring, or the object around the hole?

2

I’m being tongue in cheek of course and this is more a matter of philosophy and ontology than math and physics, but one could claim that the hole itself does not exist, it is the absence of matter, so what you are measuring is not the hole but rather the distance between any two points of matter. Otherwise one could point to nothing and claim that it is a hole of any size (like pointing to the sky and simply defining some part of it a hole of a certain size- it would effectively be a meaningless proposition in some sense).

But again, it is truly just silly semantics. :)

2

So, infinite holes. Just like a line has infinite points. And, a longer straw has a bigger infinite number of holes.

2
piefed.social

I mean no matter how you look at it it's just the one hole.

In fact, all holes are the same hole.

If you think about it.

40

The Motherhole

I was in a band called that!

We mostly played blues standards and industrial metal and our live shows prominently featured custom inflatables.

9
lauhareply
lemmy.world

So oral and anal are fucking the same hole and pussy is not a real hole.

6
lemmy.world

The pussy's more of a pit than a hole.

But yes, anal and oral are the same hole.

8
tomiantreply
piefed.social

Yes, but that's not all, I claim that ALL anal and oral holes are the same hole.

3
zecareply
lemmy.ml

Theres just one thing, and one way to look a the thing, which is the thing itself.

3

I like to think that all our holes are connected in a way

Not like a human centipede though

3
lemmy.world

Two people kissing make a single continous tube going from one anus to the other

40
piefed.social

I think topologically I have only those: 

  1. Mouth to ass (oh yeah)
  2. Left nostril 
  3. Right nostril 
  4. Left Eustachian tube
  5. Right Eustachian tube 
  6. Right tear duct 
  7. Left tear duct

No piercings or anything, so that's it.

12
Scipitiereply
lemmy.dbzer0.com

Nostrils and mouth are connected, topologically you could therefore have ass to left nostril with the mouth being an own opening!

That said I really really hope you forgot your uthera at least. Which is a curious question back to the subject: is it a topological hole if the opening is only to the insides of the corpus? (Thinking about the reproductive parts of either sex specifically).

13

The ok symbol is rather temporary but topologically that would count. I wouldn't count pores or membranes here (I mean by my arbitrary definition). 

5
piefed.social

I didnt include them for the same reason I didn't include the ears or the urinairy tract (they're not "holes" as in tunnels, topologically speaking), but if your definition differs from mine then you're right.

3

They go all the way thru the skin, but not all the way thru the body, so I guess you're right.

1
piefed.world

A straw has one hole that is open to two entrances. Like a single tunnel. We never say that a tunnel has two holes.

25
lemmy.world

I got a T shaped cat tunnel. It's got two holes. I think. Topology can go suck a lemon

7

Christmas is just another form of control, from the matrix.

it pushes massive consumerism and the idea to kids must do as told to be "nice," cause we can watch them all the time like a cia state.

Is that less forbidden?

2
lemmy.world

This suggests the reverse is true, that every hole is at minimum a tube.

I'm throwing out all my cups today. I'll jut drink from my plates.

21
CheesyFoxreply
lemmy.sdf.org

also, cups and plates are not equal topologically, because a cup has handle with a hole in it, and plate doesn't

4
zecareply
lemmy.ml

So we finally realise that the topological notion of "hole" doesnt really capture the natural language concept of a hole.

6

same as most of professional terminology that made its appearance in everyday vocabulary

5
CheesyFoxreply
lemmy.sdf.org

Woe on me! Woe on me, sire! For the eternal shame you put onto me is irredeemable!

Ah, whatever shall i do? My bloodline is forever in aura debt!

7
titanicxreply
lemmy.zip

Not all cups have that. I would consider that more a mug. 

1
CheesyFoxreply
lemmy.sdf.org

ah yes, can't wait to get home and drink my evening MUG of tea :D

1
lemy.lol

Ehh. I'm not sure it's very constructive to make a topological argument from a debate people usually think about as a linguistic one.

16

I like to think of this particular example as a sort of reminder that we need to be specific on what grounds we are arguing. Colloquially, and for the sake of practicality, the straw has two holes. You would one hole or the other is in the drink, or clogged. But topologically, yes, there is only one hole.

7
4amreply

Except maybe to illustrate the necessity of various disciplines, as this is a maths problem and not a linguistics one.

Arguing the linguistics of this is like arguing over astrology.

5
Steve Dicereply
sh.itjust.works

But saying that to make a hole in a sphere, you need to make two holes in the sphere is funny.

3
halvarreply
lemy.lol

Very good observation. Now what about a hollow sphere?

1
halvarreply
lemy.lol

is x²+y²+z²<=r² not considered a sphere then?

2

Nope. That's a ball. A closed ball to be precise. "Sphere" refers specifically to the "=" part.

2
zecareply

Fields dont need to be that isolated. In the end its arbitrary, so why not accept arguments of all perspectives?

2

So, I kinda just woke up from a nap and my still confused mind thought the meme said the straw had four holes.

12
lemmy.world

A straw has zero holes. It's just a flat piece of plastic wrapped around and attached to itself. Ain't nobody drilling holes through plastic to make straws.

10
YTG123reply
sopuli.xyz

Try that argument with your local topologist

9

Depends whether or not you consider the fastening of a surface to itself to be a real change to the topology.

3

Technically, the digestive system (i.e., the full gastro intestinal tract) is considered as part of the "outside" of the body, acting as an external surface similar to the skin. The space that an object can travel through without crossing a cell membrane or entering blood or tissue is called "lumen". So the same intuition as in the meme actually holds true here, too.

9

Well, pretty much every animal is merely a digestive tract with ever more elaborate ways of funneling food in one end and get rid of the waste at the other.

4
lemmy.world

that meme format makes me feel old... I used to see it in like 2008 👴

9
threeduckreply
aussie.zone

But this one seems to be updated for some reason? The bottom spit take reaction is not the original.

1

You're right! But from what I could find, the fake version started circulating less than a year after the original, so I honestly can't remember which one I've seen more over the years. I didn't even notice there were multiple versions lol.

2
lemmy.world

We have a pee hole and a poo hole and a mouth hole and a nose hole do really we've got a few holes going on there

7
lemmy.world

We have a massive amount of holes in our bodies. Those are just the most major holes. It comes down to what you consider a hole. Is a mouth a hole okay but what about small pours that open and close? Tear ducts would be in the definitely hole category you never think of those.

2
SkyezOpenreply
lemmy.world

Sometimes I tell my girlfriend I'm going to use every hole she has, then try to stick it up her nose. Now I realize I can get way more creative.

3
aussie.zone

How about the digestive system? I'm pretty sure the stomach forms a break

7

There's valves before and after the stomach yeah. Are we donuts when those are open or jelly donuts when they're closed? When am I a cruller or cronut?

4

I was making a minnow net to catch baitfish for my son. To make a cone you need a half circle of material out of mesh.

Now in a 2D world the where there is no thickness this would be correct, if material can be added to fill gaps.

In a 3D world, any round object with a hole and some thickness could be a straw. A washer is a straw by this logic

6

If a flat disc has no holes, how many holes does the surface of a sphere have?

5
lemmy.world

After it's flat it's ready to be made into a coffee cup

2

No, that's a punctured disk, you're thinking of a torus.

Edit: After dusting off my old-ass-hasn't-been-in-uni-for-10-years-brain, I've concluded the straw shown in the image is NOT a punctured disk, it's a closed annulus. It's still not a coffee mug and you're still thinking of a torus but I don't wanna go around spreading wrong math.

2

Fun fact: the alimentary canal is one long tube, like a straw. At one end of the alimentary canal is your mouth. At the other end is your asshole.

/FunFact

1

Nah, there’s like 11 to 14 macroscopic holes in my body. You just can’t get a dick in most of them.

1
lemmy.world

I hate this faulty logic. Of course there are two holes. Look, plug one end and do the unfold method in the comic again so instead of one hole in the center, it's just a solid disk. Does that mean if the straw is plugged at one end there are zero holes? Of course not.

-1
lemmy.world

When companies drill for oil, are they not drilling holes because only one end is open?

0