Important Philosophical Questions + POLLS

OK. If you want an exact gazillion, count the holes in polypropylene of a straw!

The point is that once you picture a straw as a topological object, counting only the holes at its ends is an arbitrary and corny decision that you took to obtain the banal number of 1.

I concur except for your quite old-fashioned taste in clothing.
Nowadays T-shirts with many many holes are sold for even more $$.

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I also had that thought but Merriam-Webster does not seem to specify if the span (or boundary) has to be persistant. I think most everyday language terms are used, and defined, with only the macroscopic scale in mind. If we apply the Merriam-Webster definiton to the microscopic scale, like KeshaKeshovic suggests, you could make an argument for there being many holes in a straw.

I would strongly disagree. A straw has one macroscopic opening, not two.

There are definitely more possible answers but they indeed all depend on the defintion of the word ā€œholeā€.

For one there is the possible answer of ā€œ1ā€ which I think is correct when following the Merriam-Webster definition of ā€œholeā€ and only applying it to the macroscopic world.

Then if weā€™re speaking German and consult the largest German dictionary then the definiton of a ā€œLochā€ (hole) is:

is a resulting open spot caused by damage, [intentional] impact, etc. where the substance is no longer present.

So according to German logic or the German definition of a ā€œholeā€ the correct answer should be ā€œ0ā€ since there was never any substance removed but the opening was instead present from the creation of the object onwards.

But if we were consulting a Ukrainian dictionary a ā€œŠ»Š¾Ń…ā€ is the person who came up with this definition of "Loch.

In some contexts, it seems that the word ā€œholeā€ is broadly used to refer to empty space or gaps

  • In baseball, the word ā€œholeā€ is often used to refer to a defensive gap between fielders.
  • In ice hockey, the word ā€œholeā€ is used for the gaps around the goalkeeperā€™s limbs, such as in telling how a goal was scored.
  • The word ā€œholeā€ can also refer to a valley that may only be loosely bounded by surrounding mountains.

There are also various increasingly figurative and abstract notions of ā€œholeā€ that would be interesting to consider

  • The concept of an ā€œelectron holeā€ refers to the lack of an electron, where one would typically be expected.
  • In poker, ā€œhole cardsā€ refer to those hidden from public view.
  • A ā€œsecurity holeā€ might refer to a somewhat abstract vulnerability, such as in computer software / networking.
  • The phrase ā€œfire-in-the-holeā€ is often used to indicate an imminent explosion or danger, even where there is no obvious physical hole present.
  • A ā€œplot holeā€ is a flaw in storytelling.
  • Phrases like ā€œhole in my heartā€ are often used figuratively in expressions of grief and loss.

This reminds me of the difficulty of choosing an appropriate parameter alpha when enclosing a pointcloud into an alpha-shape.

Choose alpha too big and youā€™ll be considering all the holes inherently present in the fabric of the tee-shirt. Choose alpha too low and youā€™ll be considering the convex hull of the tee-shirt.

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This kind of shows the advantage of the German definition. When you use the word ā€œholeā€ in the context of a t-shirt, you specifically do not want to refer to the expected holes in the fabric or to the intended hull of the t-shirt. Instead you want to refer to the unexpected/unintentional openings.

Well, the poll is 50+ replies behind, so we can safely assume that it wonā€™t get any more votes, which means I can give the answer to the riddle. :slight_smile:
@Giancarlo and @zhangjonathan13 got the correct oil. It is the right one. Fresh local oil from around 18 months ago.

@yebellz @ArsenLapin1 @trohde @Groin @Dyonn It is almost impossible nowadays to tell real olive oil from tampered one, because the advancement in food chemistry has managed to effectively simulate smell, colour and taste between the real thing and the tampered one. Especially the smell on the store-bought was exquisite, even though it had been sitting in a cupboard for 4-5 years. There is only one thing left that is 100% accurate and that is the colour should change as the time goes by.

If the oil remains vibrant green after many months, then you have a tampered oil, because real olive oil changes in colour, no matter how well you protect it. That is the only thing that it is too expensive and too inconsequential to copy chemically, so it is the only criterion left. Even if you have produced ā€œearly harvest olive oilā€, which is always greener by its nature, that too turns yellower and yellower as the chlorophyll disolves with time. Even for people that had been producing oil for all their lives can be fooled by the end result, unless they observe the oil as the time goes by (so, the only real hint in the original poll was the time in note 1).

Of course, there is no way that there is enough production for all that ā€œgreen olive oilā€ on the supermarket shelves worldwide (early green oil is notorious in having the worse ā€œkilos of olives needed for one litre of oilā€ ratio - we got 20 to 1 once :roll_eyes:), but it is what people everywhere expect olive oil to look like (from cooking shows to recipie videos and cooking books and the internet), so thatā€™s what is being sold one way or another.

If you find yellowish olive oil give it a try. At least those producers seem to be honest about that key aspect of their product. :slight_smile:

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In a 2v1 rengo game between a 2k and a 4k, what would be the rank of the DDK player to make it an even game?

16k ?

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Why 16k?

I think that a rengo game where a 4k plays all moves for one side, and a 2k and a 16k alternate playing moves for the other side, is heavily favourable for the 4k.

Edit: I would go one step further and conjecture the following: A game where a 2k plays all moves for one side, and two 2k alternate playing moves for the other side, is (likely) favourable for the 1-person-team.
My reasoning is that people have different playing styles, and itā€™s difficult to adapt to the other persons style. You can also say that following a consistent plan is better than switching back and forth between two different plans.

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Iā€™d guess that a 2k + 5k against a 4k would make roughly an even game.

When the 2k pairs with a DDK player against a 4k, they would need to get at least about 3 stones handicap to make it an even game.

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If youā€™re less than 10 ranks from me and you have an open challenge with auto handicap and no rank restrictions, is it ok for me to accept it?

  • Yes, itā€™s an open challenge :woman_shrugging:t2:
  • No, itā€™s usually implied that handicap is accepted within reason and counted on one hand at most
0 voters
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Itā€™s better to

  • Cry in sente
  • Laugh in gote
0 voters
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I think we finally got the badge, but itā€™s kind of anticlimactic:

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  • I know
  • I believe
  • I question
  • I wonder
0 voters

Hard to answer without context. I assumed it was related to questions to which religions attempt to give an answer. So to expand a bit, Iā€™m fairly certain that

  • We are microscopic in the grand scheme of the universe. Life has no meaning since we will all die, and yet life is meaningful to us.
  • Questions about things that ā€œoutsideā€ the universe are inaccessible to us and possibly meaningless. If an entity created the universe, we donā€™t seem to interact with it anyway, so better ignore it.

I donā€™t know if the above can be considered as knowledge or beliefs. But itā€™s still an opinion that may evolve in the future.

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Depending on the context, all things apply.
There are things you know, usually simple and self-evident like ā€œI know were my glasses are, because I am wearing themā€.
There are things you believe, usually things that are abstract and vague and usually hopeful like ā€œI believe that next year I will manage to achieve this or that goalā€.
There are things you (should) question, usually most of reality and whatever happens daily.
There are things you wonder, usually things about your specific interests or long-term goals (e.g. what is happiness? the meaning of life etc).

The ā€œHow to openā€ universe is expanding!!

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atareieing