The underground world of hobby tunneling
121–130 of 169 posts
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, probably only relevant to 80% of his potential readers. What tosh!
Less than 50%, actually, though I doubt that it's true that it only applies to the US. Children usually get a free pass because their meddling is ineffective or impermanent. https://web.archive.org/web/20230515211304/https://toolhub.t...
And furthermore, they're too busy writing tickets to the beavers, who are doing the real damage.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m nearing 40 and when I’m at any beach with sand you better believe I’m gonna see how deep I can dig a hole. Brings back a lot of that childhood joy of being absolutely certain I was almost about to dig through the earth’s crust once it started to get hard. Only about 19.999 miles short if we’re talking about averages.
Building a dam on a stream can be like this too.
We’ll build trenches from the waterline to see how far into the beach can make water flow.
A good mash-up in building beach holes and water play.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#124Darwin Awards material. I was thinking yeah give your house (most of your wealth for most people) subsidence yay! But in the article they point out yeah you can get poisoned or drown. Great.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#125I wonder if there's DNA markers that predispose people to this type of "hobby". There's evidence that humans lived in caves and underground bunkers for extended periods of time. There's even ancient underground cities with dedicated water sources and ventilation systems. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu_underground_city
Great notion! Are there any projects or publications attemtping to map preferences like 'invigorated by mountainous forests', 'enjoys building and living in underground tunnels', etc to DNA markers? It seems plausible that these preferences could be genetically embedded based on ancestors' living conditions.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#126If you all enjoy digging hobby tunnels, then can I interest you in someone excavating their basement using only miniature remote control construction vehicles ? Digging & hauling: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=He00d6Gpxs8 More recent rock crusher: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TSaqSzziaE8&t=3m31s (There's 16 years / 379 videos so far, if you are into RC earthmoving ASMR)
$5K for one of those models!
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#127Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’m nearing 40 and when I’m at any beach with sand you better believe I’m gonna see how deep I can dig a hole. Brings back a lot of that childhood joy of being absolutely certain I was almost about to dig through the earth’s crust once it started to get hard. Only about 19.999 miles short if we’re talking about averages.
I’m in the same age bracket and hole-digging enthusiasm bracket as you but recently became aware of the dangers of this whimsical pastime! [1] That’s not to dissuade you or anyone else from doing it (I have continued!), but I think everyone should be aware of the very real danger. As they say, knowing is half the battle! 1 - https://www.npr.org/2022/05/19/1100068725/beach-holes-sand-c...
We have different definitions of "real danger"
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh man, don't send me down this rabbit hole! I've always been annoyed at the original builders of my house for the half basement/half crawlspace - I mean, how much could it have possibly added to the cost of construction to just dig that last 4 feet on the other half?!
My Grandfather’s house was like that when he bought it. It was built on a hill that sloped down from the street. The ground floor was actually several feet below the level of the street, with just enough crawl space at the front edge of the house. He jacked the whole house up to street level, dug out the basement, poured a concrete slab under the whole house, built concrete block walls around the whole thing, and bui…
Amazing productivity.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#129A friend of mine said in Moscow Russia people use to dig basements under precast concrete car size storage units. Every once in a while the the whole unit would fall in the hole halfway or more.
Water wells using concrete rings, same thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iuo1zsabKKI
I've done that it is amazingly effective. Also pretty weird to start on Monday at ground level and by Wednesday afternoon you realize you will need a longer ladder. Also interesting how quick you strike water but then you're not done yet so for a while you need to get rid of the water faster than it flows in.
Re: The underground world of hobby tunneling
#130Philosopher Susan Wolf talks about the "meaningful life" as, "lives of active engagement in projects of worth." A classic example that is given about how important both are is the idea that while one can actively engage in digging a hole in their backyard, it won't lead to a "meaningful life" because it's not a "project of worth." This hobby I suppose could serve either as a strong counterpoint, or would reveal a who…
The nihilistic view is that nothing matters anyways. The sun will die. It doesn’t matter if you are Bill Gates. In 1,000 years, most traces of our existence would have been forgotten. Look at the ancient kingdoms and rulers. Sure, the pharaohs we care about, but some random king elsewhere? Maybe not.
That's the nihilistic future. The optimistic future sees the human raise up further and further and beyond the solar system. Not as humans anymore, but evolved. There is no limit.