this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world 90 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 17 points 2 weeks ago

I don't like that I like this

[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

Invented a whole math thing to justify his desire paths.

[–] egrets@lemmy.world 41 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)
[–] Boozilla@sh.itjust.works 33 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] chicken@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 2 weeks 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

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 weeks 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.

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

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

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[–] yetAnotherUser@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 1 week 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.

[–] stephen01king@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

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

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.

[–] chloroken@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Your feedback is valued.

[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] BambiDiego@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I wish I was high on the potenuse

[–] denaggels@feddit.org 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Haha, I wish I was high on the potenuse!

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] denaggels@feddit.org 3 points 1 week ago (2 children)
[–] pyre@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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)

[–] Zink@programming.dev 1 points 1 week 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!

[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So irrational this guy sometimes...

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)
[–] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 weeks ago

So am I but I still follow the rules!

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

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

[–] Hupf@feddit.org 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Klear@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Ugh, there goes that xkcd guy.

[–] dQw4w9WgXcQ@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

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

[–] MigratingApe@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

Where’s Euclides?

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

They're just a bunch of squares

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 5 points 2 weeks 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@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week 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@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Yes, that's a fairly common practice.

[–] JackLSauce@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

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

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world -5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

I hate when people do that. Just stay on the sidewalk, you're going to wear a path down in the grass.

[–] silasmariner@programming.dev 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Should've been a path there to begin with, clearly. Bad design

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

No. No weird hypotenuses. Vertical and horizontal paths only.

[–] Rokin@lemm.ee 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Those are desire paths. I love them.

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

I hate them. It's not a real walkway, it's just people making their own and ruining the grass.