r/technicallythetruth • u/OrphanEater901 • 11d ago
If you walk it again in the othet direction, its even longer
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u/PesteNegra3338 11d ago
It can be infinite if you just don't have a destination
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u/Jackie7263 11d ago
Maybe the real destination is the friends we made along
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u/PesteNegra3338 11d ago
We're not going anywhere
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u/beansummmits 11d ago
how many friends per mile do you get
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u/DankDave10 11d ago
my dads route to school vs my grandpa
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u/noimnotawookbro 11d ago •
vs yours
Shows map with one dot on it, online school
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u/derpykidgamer 11d ago
No, the map is your computer to the bathroom
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u/JediJoe923 11d ago
How’d you figure out my daily routine?
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u/derpykidgamer 11d ago
We are not so different, you and I
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u/Pandataraxia 11d ago
Don't forget she goes up mountains, doesn't come down because it's for lazy people, then walks up to get that sweet sweet "Uphill both ways"
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u/Nathalmighty 11d ago
All on one foot! Because the other foot was away starting a business.
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u/Flying_Hub 11d ago
With 20 years experience. She is 12
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u/Hefty-Vehicle292 11d ago
She had to fight two lions and a tyrannosaurus with nunchucks!
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u/IMDEAFSAYWATUWANT 11d ago
Gosh browsing reddit when your high and finding comments like these is just amazing.
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u/k34t0n 11d ago
"Uphill both ways"
Gravity wasnt invented back then
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u/Slightspark 10d ago
Okay, but imagine the path is divoted such that halfway is uphill and the other down, both ways would in effect have you walking uphill.
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u/Caracaos 11d ago
Your great grandpa is like "we used to have to cross over into Alaska and head down to the Andes, but the road got washed away"
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u/Taytay_Is_God 11d ago
Couldn’t you walk in a circle in your bedroom?
Infinite length
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u/Nivi2006 11d ago
Distance would be a lot but displacement would be next to nothing
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u/mattmentecky 11d ago
Not with that kind of attitude.
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u/Elementia7 11d ago
Are you planning to run in circles so fast you can replicate lift from a helicopter?
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u/Octimusocti 11d ago
Or wear the floor off and you start going down
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u/MinosAristos 11d ago
Interestingly, the route in the OP is ~22k km which is significantly more than the diameter of the Earth, at <13k km. So even if you wear the floor all the way to the other side of the Earth the displacement won't be nearly enough.
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u/ICANTTHINK0FNAMES 11d ago
If your room is on a boat, and the boat is constantly moving, then you’re constantly being displaced, in a different location than before.
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u/Noodleman6000 11d ago
or just use the fact that we are travelling through space at a zillion miles per hour
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u/Warpingghost 11d ago
Actually enormous. Even if you seat in a chair you moves millions of miles every moment. Walking ads miniscule percent for it
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u/Driftedryan 11d ago
Stupid fit bit isn't counting my millions of miles traveled a day
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u/waystoboggan 11d ago
They didn't say traveled, they said displaced.
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u/TransientBandit 11d ago
It is impossible to travel and not displace unless you exist in a true vacuum.
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u/waystoboggan 11d ago
no, you can move around and arrive at the same location that you departed. or walk in a circle, or jump.
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u/just2commenthere 11d ago
31.2 million miles a day in fact. And that's just from the Milky Way perspective. If only it could close my movement ring for me. :-/
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u/9-11_Pilot01 11d ago
That all depends on what you’re basing your displacement on.
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u/Firewolf06 11d ago
the most fun anchor is another person
wait, thats a
goodapp idea. fitness tracker, but it tracks your movement relative to another user13
u/Logical-Luke 11d ago
Isnt that also the case in the picture? Lot more distance but the same displacement?
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u/Nivi2006 11d ago
Exactly
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u/thisisntmynameorisit 11d ago
Isn’t about displacement though, just needs to be the fastest route between two points. Imagine if it was shaped like the letter u, you would have to go all the way around but still have minimal displacement at the end.
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u/N8torade981 11d ago
Earth is moving through the universe, displacement relative to the position earth was in when you started is huge.
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u/someanimechoob 11d ago
In that case... you forget that Earth is a spaceship barreling through the solar system at ludicrous speeds! And that the solar system is a spaceship barreling through the galaxy at even faster speeds! AND THAT THE GALAXY IS SPEEDING THROUGH THE COSMOS EVEN FASTER!
So, really, whether you're in a supersonic jet or on your couch, your absolute speed is virtually the same.
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u/Minyguy 11d ago edited 11d ago
I suppose the most correct way to phrase it would be:
This route is longest route, which is the practically shortest continous walkable route between two points.
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u/the_greatest_MF 11d ago
the longest shortest road, my brain hurts.
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u/Minyguy 11d ago
The really brain hurt thing to realise is that the longest shortest road exists, but the shortest longest road is not possible.
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u/akatherder 11d ago
Barely related, but reminds me of the "coastline paradox"
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox
The smaller measuring tool you use can make a coastline seem almost infinite if you measure every nook and cranny.
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11d ago
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u/Minyguy 11d ago
No because there is always a detour you can add the make it longer
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u/0002millertime 11d ago
This made me think of the physics explanations of the singularity inside a black hole. In that case, there are no detours possible between 2 points, which was the proof that the singularity exists because you always end up there in the shortest spacetime interval. (This is also true of looking back in time towards the big bang outside of a black hole.)
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u/shieldyboii 11d ago
Actually no. If it’s a road instead of a route, it has to have width. Assuming you are walking on the land surface of earth, with no overlapping in the third dimension, at a width of 1m, there is only 148 billion km of road you can possibly have. That is assuming you can teleport between continents.
If we are talking about afro-eurasia it’s a road 85 billion kilometers long. Probably marginally smaller if you exclude islands.
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u/GuyTheyreTalkngAbout 11d ago
You can make it longer by swerving a little as you go
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u/Lopsided-Seasoning 11d ago
We getting to Plank's length accuracy. Love when reddit independently discoverrs something in physics Plank already figured out.
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u/faustianredditor 11d ago
Ok, but have you considered walking the same road twice?
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u/Exaskryz 11d ago
Why stop there?
Roundabouts are the longest roads.
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u/faustianredditor 11d ago
That's exactly why upstream someone said that the shortest longest route doesn't exist: You can always go for one more spin in the roundabout, thus finding a longer route.
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u/PM_ME_UR_POKIES_GIRL 11d ago
If the polar ice caps ever freeze again you can reach the Americas too.
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u/I_am_above_the_law 11d ago
well, wouldn't the shortest longest road just be the longest road? since it is in fact, not longer than any other longest road?
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u/jus1tin 11d ago
Yes. The shortest longest route is the route such that no shorter route that is also the longest exists so a shortest longest route exists if a longest route exists. Which it doesn't.
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u/dapiedude 11d ago
Min-Maxing hahaha
One of the things I do for work in data science is to group things. And it's hilarious to try to explain what a group is:
These objects are most similar to themselves but the most DISSIMILAR to everything else. Longest shortest road, most similar dissimilar things..
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u/__methodd__ 11d ago
Also similar to mini-max which is a traditional AI algorithm for game playing:
Pick the best option you can with the expectation that your opponent will pick the worst option for you.
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u/faustianredditor 11d ago edited 11d ago
Choose origin and destination to increase the distance, but choose the route to decrease it. Meaning, you don't get to walk from NY to Boston via LA; you gotta pick the shortest route from NY to Boston.
Edit: Ohhh, and y'all will love the actual definition of "minmaxing" from game theory. The best move in a zero-sum two-player game is that which minimizes the maximal reward the enemy can achieve. That is to say, you win by restricting (minimizing) the enemy's best possible (maximum) play. This works because in zero-sum games, by definition, the enemy's loss is your win.
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11d ago
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u/pfwj 11d ago
"These are the two farthest points in the world that you can walk between, and here is the fastest route to walk it according to google maps."
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u/Impossible-Smell1 11d ago
This phrasing suggests the points are chosen based on the distance between them "as the bird flies", as opposed to the walking distance.
"These are the two farthest points in the world by walking distance, and the path between them" would be correct, I think.
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u/Optimal-Grass-8989 11d ago
Or, better yet, the longest survivable route
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u/Juventus19 11d ago
Define survivable. Cause walking through Sudan and Syria doesnt sound too survivable.
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u/cndinazyskblz 11d ago
The shortest of the set of practically longest continuous walkable routes between two points on earth.
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u/DeadBushy 11d ago
I think that the original post is talking about how this is the longest continious path and i doubt that the person replying pointed out a continous path...
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u/Minyguy 11d ago
What is your definition of continous?
According to Oxford language:
forming an unbroken whole; without interruption.
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u/Neosporinforme 11d ago
You're focused on the wrong word. The original post was saying path as in trodden path. As in known and used. They weren't simply saying if one wanted to make a path it was the longest possible.
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u/Dot_main_irl 11d ago
The longest continiuous path would attempt to maximize the route length. Therefore it would go through as many counties and roads as possible.
OP doesnt mean that, its trying to minimize the route.
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u/vendetta2115 11d ago
I think the criteria is “the longest route that is the shortest continuous and walkable path between two points on the Earth.”
It sounds weird, but that’s a consistent and verifiable set of conditions that can be met.
So you pick two locations, find the shortest path between the two that is walkable the entire way (i.e., has sidewalks or otherwise is designed to handle pedestrian traffic, so most highways would be excluded), and measure that length. You keep doing that until you get one that you can’t find another one that’s longer. That’s what I assume they did to come up with this route.
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u/Dot_main_irl 11d ago
Correct, that is what they mean but did not say, and not what the person i replied to understood either.
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u/anweisz 11d ago
The 2 furthest points you can travel between on land, and the shortest path between them.
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u/Complex_Construction 11d ago
Most people contextually understand that for some reason. This guy is just being too literal.
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u/TrumpImpeachedAugust 11d ago
I think it's more straightforward to say something like "these two points are further apart than any other two points on Earth that a human could walk between".
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-2615 11d ago
Two farthest points connect by a single road is probably what they meant to say.
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u/Rrrrandle 11d ago
I suppose the most correct way to phrase it would be:
This route is longest route, which is the practically shortest continous walkable route between two points.
*And your name is Moses.
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u/lmaotrybanmeagain 11d ago
Thats still not quite fully correct because “walkable” isn’t a precise term here. The routes that show up on google are somehow paved or dirt road or something that makes it “official” or something. But probably tons of local routes you could use otherwise. So you have to mention something about this the case only on google maps.
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u/subjective-value 11d ago
Ah, the max-min. Seems confusing, but this sort of thing arises naturally out of game theory.
Imagine if we played a game where my objective was to find the shortest possible walking route and your objective was to find me the furthest source walkable and destination for me.Then, with ideal play on Earth's surface, you'd pick this path.
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u/ToxicManlyMan 11d ago
It's the longest shortest route between two places.
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u/Lildyo 11d ago
Isn’t it simply the shortest route between the two furthest places?
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u/klausklass 11d ago
That’s only equivalent if you measure distance between 2 places by path length instead of straight line distance. So it’s the shortest route between the two places that have the longest shortest route between them. Which is just the longest shortest route…
Scenario: the map only has 3 cities (A, B, C). A - C have a straight bridge between them of length 2 that does not stop at B. A - B and B - C are both windy roads with lengths 4 and 5, even though B is only 1 away from both A and C as the crow flies.
A and C are the furthest places on this map as the crow flies, so the shortest route between the 2 furthest places is 2.
Looking at all the pairs of cities, we can calculate their shortest paths. There is a cool parallel algorithm we can actually use to do this (look up APSP). Now we can find the longest of these shortest paths, which will be of length 5 in this case.
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u/MohammadRezaPahlavi 11d ago
I think that's more correct.
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u/HighPriestofShiloh 11d ago
The first comment is 100% correct so I am not sure how it’s more correct. The second comment is just easier to understand .
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u/vzakharov 11d ago
This. In more rigorous terms:
Between any two other places on earth having a walkable route, the shortest walkable route beteeen them will be shorter than this one.
For these two places on earth, any walkable route other than this one will be longer than this one.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-2615 11d ago
Two farthest points connect by a single road is probably what they meant to say.
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u/AfterAardvark3085 11d ago
"A single road" would imply you aren't changing roads.
What they meant was the "longest optimal path" or something along those lines.
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u/GatoAquarista 11d ago
Did anyone already tried to do that?
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u/patrick-a-star 11d ago
No person has made the walk yet.
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u/mr_man_20000 11d ago
Yet?
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u/PhancyPhuck 11d ago
The path goes through some seriously dangerous (perhaps some of the most dangerous) places in the world. I don't think anyone will make the walk, ever. But I would pay to watch someone try.
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u/DistributedIntellect 11d ago
you'll be alright in russia down through turkey and into egypt... past that, it gets a little tricky, you can expect to be kidnapped, held, robbed, or killed
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u/Altoid_Addict 11d ago
If Russia gets desperate enough in their war, they might try to conscript you.
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u/drowninFish 11d ago
which parts are the most dangerous?
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u/Cb6x 11d ago edited 11d ago
To start, Syria is in the middle of a civil war. South Sudan has a significant amount of ethno-religious conflict. Israelis and Palestinians are fighting again. The African Great Lakes region has been in perpetual simultaneous ethnic conflicts since the cold war. And Russia has most of its border checkpoints closed off.
Edit: can't believe I forgot about the ongoing Islamic insurgencies by al-Qaeda and ISIL in the Sinai
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u/djublonskopf 11d ago
Also, good luck getting from Russia into Georgia via Abkhazia, and good luck with the Israel-Syria border crossing.
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u/mr_shlomp 11d ago
Israelis and Palestinians are fighting again.
We are always fighting but it's generally speaking quite safe
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u/SleepyFarts 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not this particular walk, but there is a guy working and writing for National Geographic who has, for the last ten years, been walking from Ethiopia towards east Asia, with an eventual goal of taking a boat to Alaska from eastern Russia and then continuing to walk until he reaches South America. It's called the Out of Eden Walk
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u/Dravarden 11d ago edited 11d ago
will he cross the Darien gap?
or rather, how...
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u/SleepyFarts 11d ago
It's a little bit of a misconception that the Darien Gap is unnavigable. There are guides that you can hire to help you make the crossing. The trouble is crossing with trucks, cars, motorcycles or animals; a vehicle is more than likely going to be killed or abandoned during the trek. If you join the Peace Corps, there are peaceful tribes that you can work with in the Gap if that happens to be where you're assigned. The major issue is that there are also para-military groups and drug-runners that operate there who would be best avoided. A person in good enough shape could definitely make the crossing if they made the right arrangements i.e. paid the right people. Looking at his map, it appears that he plans to walk the gap, not take the ferry between countries.
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u/TheKydd 11d ago
It’s a fascinating no-man’s land. Many epic journeys (and books written about them).
It’s the only break in the Pan-American Highway, which runs otherwise continuously from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego - approximately 30,000 km / 19,000 miles all told.
Hopefully that gap never gets completed, as it would wreak havoc by allowing (for example) foot-and-mouth disease to cross continents… amongst many other issues.
Normally the trek takes at least four days of hiking through some of the most difficult and dangerous terrain on the planet, full of all kinds of deadly creatures and people.
Let that sink in - it took more than two years to get a vehicle across just 106 km / 66 miles.
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u/oxjox 11d ago
Not to my knowledge but I would highly recommend the three installments of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman traveling on motorcycle. https://www.longwayup.com
Long Way Round: London to New York City
Long Way Down: Scotland to South Africa
Long Way Up: Argentina to Los Angeles
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u/sntcringe 11d ago
You could just walk in a circle over and over again and get infinite distance.
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u/SandMan3914 11d ago
The other way lies the Darien Gap; good luck crossing (it's passable on foot, but very difficult and not very safe)
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u/jimmychitw00d 11d ago
No way. Pretty sure I exceeded this Christmas shopping with my wife in 2009.
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u/Ididntbreakanyrules 11d ago
First route crosses four or five active war zones. Second route...Hold my beer!
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u/cndinazyskblz 11d ago edited 11d ago
So it's really the shortest of the set of longest paths then? I suppose this is like trying to measure shorelines at increasing resolution. The set is infinite or at least practically uncountable.
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u/Bigram03 11d ago
Dangerous does not even begin to describe how perilous a journey like this would be. At no point would you be considered safe.
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u/BigBootyBuff 11d ago
It's a shame. Regardless if you're walking, riding a bike or whatever, that would truly be an amazing journey where you see some of the most beautiful places on earth. Sadly not something that's even remotely safe to do.
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u/bootes_droid 11d ago
I wanna see you make it across Sudan 3 times, after you escape Boko Haram of course
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u/Honest-Bed9598 11d ago
As a child I used to walk that route to school. Up hill both ways.
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u/darky_tinymmanager 11d ago
no the path will be as long...the distance will be longer
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u/ninjaelk 11d ago
I think the word you're looking for is displacement. The displacement will be the same, the path and distance will both be longer.
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u/Rene_DeMariocartes 11d ago
A 19th century mathematician named Peano demonstrated that we could construct a continuous curve that passes through every point of a square.
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u/ThunderBuns935 11d ago
when I was younger I mistakenly believed that you could walk across the Bering Strait in winter and make it into Alaska, but you can't. there's always a body of fast moving, highly dangerous water there. even small boats usually can't make it across.
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u/lol_camis 11d ago
Second one isn't ttt either. You could do the exact same thing but tighter
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u/xwingpilot15 11d ago
in the end you’re doing the same amount of work since your displacement is that same
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u/Individual_Border_58 11d ago
Fact check : also false he didn't include the oceans and 4 continents
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u/IamTheDonviti 11d ago
Highly intelligent people will see a walrus in a dentist chair, others will see a rabbit at the eye doctors
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u/Krennel_Archmandi 11d ago
Incorrect, there are several red points where the path ceases to exist, making it NOT the longest CONTINUOUS path.
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u/curmudgeonous 10d ago
Blue line: Your Dad’s college sexual history.
Red line: Your Mom’s college sexual history.
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u/Stellar_Stein 10d ago
'Everything is within walking distance if you have enough time.' - Steven Wright
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u/Aggressive_Airport24 10d ago
Shortest route between two furthest points that are walkable between eachother
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