this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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[–] TheTechnician27 90 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] Brunbrun6766 17 points 2 months ago

I don't like that I like this

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Invented a whole math thing to justify his desire paths.

[–] egrets 41 points 2 months ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 33 points 2 months ago (2 children)

This is why some places like Michigan State University and Ohio State University use "desire path planning". That's where they observe where people walk and then install (or move) the sidewalks to match those footpaths.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Not necessarily good though since it further seals the ground. There's nothing wrong with leaving desire paths untouched.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The problem is they would either have to police people from using them, or let grassy areas become bisected by muddy ditches

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Is there an issue with muddy bisections? It might not look the most appealing but it's better than pavement.

To prevent the paths from getting ever wider you could, for example, plant flowers next to them. That's a pretty effective and unobtrusive way.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Mud is messy; muddy trails also aren't the most wheelchair-friendly

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Mud is messy

It depends. Some people view lawns that aren't devoid of all insect life messy or trimmed evenly messy. And if it is raining or has recently rained, hardly anyone would use a muddy path so the concrete sidewalk will remain reasonably clean as well.

wheelchair-accessible

That's important, though I'm not advocating for keeping an entire campus unpaved. I am arguing that only necessary pathways should be paved while desire paths should ideally remain unpaved. People in wheelchairs should still get around (quickly), but desire paths don't need to be wheelchair accessible in my opinion.

[–] piecat 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (2 children)

A dirt path, fine and great. Sounds nice for summertime.

Lot of schools aren't in a warm climate.

Those paths become unusable in winter, a muddy (unusable) slop when it rains or when the snow melts.

Muddy paths lead to wet socks and dirty shoes at best, and at worst, you slip and get covered.

[–] LovableSidekick 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yes, based on college conversations with groundskeepers, students tend to blaze their own trails to create the shortest routes. Besides injuries when they slip and fall in the mud, it also gets tracked into buildings, making those floors slippery as well. Paving popular paths is a way of accommodating human behavior.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I don't think there's an issue with desire paths becoming unusable during certain times though. It slightly extends the time you spend walking around but I'd prefer this over having unnecessary pavement.

You might as well pave the entire green space in this example.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

And why would paving the entire green space not be worse than only paving the paths people walk on?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

I meant to convey how so much of the existing green space was paved already that paving the entire green space wouldn't be much different at this point.

I would guess the paved paths make up like 20% of the image? That's far too much in my opinion, green space in cities is already severely limited.

You can also see how every time a desire path was paved, new desire paths sprung up - which were then also paved.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Your feedback is valued.

[–] Sam_Bass 21 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] BambiDiego 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I wish I was high on the potenuse

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Haha, I wish I was high on the potenuse!

[–] pyre 0 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I like how your reply got more upvotes than BambiDiego’s. It’s like we got to watch the skit play out in real life!

[–] pyre 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

thanks. I just thought the reference to the sub was too good to pass. (r/yourjokewbutworse except it isn't worse it's just the same joke... whatever you can't land em all)

[–] [email protected] 15 points 2 months ago (1 children)

So irrational this guy sometimes...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago

So am I but I still follow the rules!

[–] RizzRustbolt 11 points 1 month ago

Considering his life and how he died, normal was never on the table.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Shouldn't that be Cauchy and Schwarz walking together? Since they were actually the ones to generally prove that the absolute value of the sum of two vectors are smaller or equal to the sum of absolute values of each of those vectors separately.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauchy%E2%80%93Schwarz_inequality

Why, yes, I am fun at parties!

[–] rainerloeten 1 points 2 months ago

Yes, but you could just name him the "triangle inequality guy" that's note readable :D

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] Klear 4 points 1 month ago

Ugh, there goes that xkcd guy.

[–] untorquer 6 points 2 months ago

They're just a bunch of squares

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago

Where’s Euclides?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

I vaguely remember seeing this exact joke in my geometry book in gradeschool. Probably different illustrator, but still.

Damn, I feel old now.

[–] LovableSidekick 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Wow, earlier today I read it as "Why can't this be normal" as in why are people regimented to stay on sidewalks instead of strolling across the grass? It reminded me of a guy I worked with in one of my first jobs, who was told by another coworker that you shouldn't walk on the grass, and he replied, "Yeah you should, because if you weren't supposed to it wouldn't feel so soft and cushy and good on your feet." I liked that guy's attitude.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

If I remember right, there's a school that took the worn paths in the grass and just turned those into official walkways.

[–] LovableSidekick 1 points 1 month ago

Yes, that's a fairly common practice.

[–] JackLSauce 1 points 2 months ago

He's only 45 degrees from being normal whereas they're 90 so...