# Are human beings donuts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665 "2005-12-14T23:45:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/1 "2005-12-14T23:45:14Z")
Topologically speaking, as in tori. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/2 "2005-12-14T23:49:36Z")
I’ve often said that animals are just complicated tubes. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/3 "2005-12-14T23:53:29Z")
Yes. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/4 "2005-12-14T23:54:00Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Topologically speaking, as in tori. Too many holes. Mouth and two nostrils already goes beyond what you could do with a doughnut without piercing it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/5 "2005-12-14T23:54:23Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Topologically speaking, as in tori. If we are, we’re imperfect. Obviously the mouth-to-anus connection could serve as a donut hole (I imagine that’s what you’re thinking of), however the nasal passages, which connect through to that same doughnut hole (when not blocked off by the assorted flaps of flesh that prevent us from aspirating our Boston Creme treats) kind of mess up the perfection. Not to mention the other holes (eyes, ears, urethra etc.) that take advantage of holes in our skin, but don’t actually offer free passage to an exit elsewhere on the body (well, not normally anyway!). IANAT(opologist) but I would guess the extra ventilation passages mean we’re not true doughnuts, despite the old adage “You are what you eat” :). Perhaps we’re “second order tori” or something? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/6 "2005-12-14T23:59:36Z")
> [@Mama Zappa](#): > > Not to mention the other holes (eyes, ears, urethra etc.) that take advantage of holes in our skin, but don’t actually offer free passage to an exit elsewhere on the body (well, not normally anyway!). Topologically speaking, those are irrelevant, since they will still map to a flat surface. Through holes are what matters here. I agree, however, that the nostrils and nasal passages complicate things, making each of us an imperfect torus, at best. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/7 "2005-12-15T00:02:03Z")
So every living thing that has a GIGO system is a donut? Don’t plants have microscopic holes in their leaves for uptake and release? (from admittedly hazy memories of middle/high school biology) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/8 "2005-12-15T00:16:21Z")
> [@lizardling](#): > > So every living thing that has a GIGO system is a donut? Don’t plants have microscopic holes in their leaves for uptake and release? (from admittedly hazy memories of middle/high school biology) Everything that has a mouth and an anus is a donut. This does not include jellyfish, sea anemones, corals, and flatworms. The holes in plant leaves do not go through the whole organism. They are mainly located on the underside of the leaves. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/9 "2005-12-15T00:16:32Z")
Interesting factoid: If an average-sized man were to face north, and the intestines on the right side of his body were cut and stretched outside of his body as far as they would go to the east, and the intestines on the left side of his body were cut and stretched outside of his body as far as they would reach to the west… He’d die. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/10 "2005-12-15T01:08:29Z")
Is there a topological name for an object with two non-connected holes going through it? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/11 "2005-12-15T01:25:24Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Is there a topological name for an object with two non-connected holes going through it? It is called a 2-torus; such an object is of genus 2. I don’t know if they have names once you get past genus 2. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/12 "2005-12-15T02:43:33Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It is called a 2-torus; such an object is of genus 2. I don’t know if they have names once you get past genus 2. Another generic term is “solid handlebody”. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/13 "2005-12-15T02:47:28Z")
So are men creme-filled while women are jelly? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/14 "2005-12-15T03:28:21Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > Topologically speaking, those are irrelevant, since they will still map to a flat surface. Through holes are what matters here. I agree, however, that the nostrils and nasal passages complicate things, making each of us an imperfect torus, at best. The bladder’s got an intake somewhere, though, and I think that makes it count as an exit hole. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/15 "2005-12-15T03:33:22Z")
Once the zygote begins dividing, it forms a tube ([neural tube](http://www.uoguelph.ca/zoology/devobio/210labs/brainchart.html)) Everything else is window dressing. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/16 "2005-12-15T03:34:29Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > The bladder’s got an intake somewhere, though, and I think that makes it count as an exit hole. Not quite. The bladder connects to the outside world via the urethra, and is filled through a pair of tubes, one from each kidney. The kidneys have no other connection to the outside–all the fluids and waste products cross over from the bloodstream via osmosis. I wouldn’t really count that. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/17 "2005-12-15T03:43:14Z")
Kennedy said he was! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/18 "2005-12-15T04:24:32Z")
Krispy Kremes, I hope! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/19 "2005-12-15T09:34:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Everything that has a mouth and an anus is a donut. That’s pretty much what I was thinking, but I didn’t know whether the sphincter mattered. Is a torus allowed to have a shut-off valve, so to speak? Or does the fact that the sphincter is elastic make it a non-issue? ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665/20 "2005-12-15T14:52:50Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > That’s pretty much what I was thinking, but I didn’t know whether the sphincter mattered. Is a torus allowed to have a shut-off valve, so to speak? Or does the fact that the sphincter is elastic make it a non-issue? No matter how much of a “tightass” one might be, there is always some part of it that’s not completely closed. (very small, but present) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-human-beings-donuts/335665.md?page=2)