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?

  • ℕ𝕖𝕞𝕠
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    But they are (edit: holes are) present where you’d expect the material of the object. No one expects a straw to be a solid cylinder, ergo, the central cavity is not a hole.

    • silly goose meekah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      That’s not how it works. It’s pretty unanimously understood that a donut has a hole, yet nobody expects material to be there, even though there are donuts without holes.

      There are no straws without a hole. A straw without a hole is a stick. The hole is an integral part of the straw.

    • PopularUsername@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I see, so like, if it identifies as a hole it’s not a hole? So a cheese grater has no holes. But if I jam a screwdriver through the cheese grater, now it has a hole? What if I like the new hole and want to consider it a part of the cheese grater? Do we hold a vote on which hole identifies as a property of the object? Or do objects self-identify? I don’t speak cheese grater, this is going to get difficult.