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At what number of grains of sand does a non-pile graduate into being a pile? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by SeahorseTreble@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

41 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm of the view that this is a semantic question where we have a word, "pile", that describes a general amount but doesn't have a specified quantity to it, and so the only way we can determine the amount of units required to constitute a pile at the bare minimum, is through public consensus on the most commonly shared idea we generally have when we think of a pile.

I also think it's possible for there to be a "range of graduation" between a non-pile and a pile, so for example "a non-pile becomes a pile somewhere between x grains and x grains" (depending on what most people think this range is), and if a given number of grains falls below this range, it would necessarily be only a minority of people that would still accept it to be a pile.

So I plan to count the answers here and see if we can come to some kind of consensus or at least most common or average opinion. For sake of not skewing the results, I won't suggest my opinion on what I think the number or range of grains is upon which a non-pile becomes a pile. What do you think it is?

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[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Minimum number of grains of sand for a pile is four.

Three for the base layer, one for the second layer that makes it a pile.

Beyond that, whether it’s a pile depends on whether the sand is actually piled up.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

You only need three if you can balance one grain of sand on two

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Man I can't get this spacing right. You get what I mean

[–] HopFlop@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Nah that doesnt count. It cant be just one grain thick (from the side), it has to be roughly cone-shaped.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

Lmao even among those of us willing to push the definition of a "pile" to its absolute limits, there are differences

Imo, if you can stack one grain of sand onto another, you can have a pile of 2

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago

If you think about it, every grain of sand is resting on itself