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I have no idea how the devil I'm going to find out the answer to this one. So I shall throw it open to the floor;
Imagine, if you will, that I have a pair of Converse. They look like this;
Now imagine that I wear these shoes every day. And yet I never walk anywhere in them. I just wear the shoes. They don't even touch the ground. I sit in a chair, my legs dangling above ground level.
Will the shoes outlive us all? Or will they corrode / fall apart?
It depends on who you class as "all" but, assuming you mean us regulars and not some little shit accessing google cache in the year 30090, then I'd say they'd outlive us. The only consideration being, maybe, a snapped lace.
BUT
after doc's dead, they will touch the ground and therefore be subject to seismic erosion, won't they?
Not if he dies in his chair and nobody finds him. Hopefully they will resist decomposing along with his body (and not fall on the floor), long enough for the rest of us to die.
I think the shoes would continue to hang on the bones of the feet, but how long they would actually last...i have no idea, but they would certainly outlive us all.
Posted by
Brock, around 12th May 2006:
Surely the sweat from his feet will corrode the stitching in some way? Chemical attrition hasn't been considered yet. Also the effects of the weather (rain and sunlight) may cause the shoes to degrade.
Yes, but I think that would take many many years.
are they volcano-proof? also: are you sitting in a volcano?
Posted by
ellipse, around 12th May 2006:
the big question is what kind of socks is doc wearing?
and is that a pure canvas converse or does it have some artifical lifelengthing fabric in it?
Posted by
bumdog, around 12th May 2006:
Bah! Converse shoes fall apart on their own accord after three months anyway as ne fule kno.
Posted by
ellipse, around 12th May 2006:
i've had a pair of converse since the mid 90s, granted they are worn down at the soles and only good for gardening, but they aint broken
can someone PLEASE make a "conversely, " joke?!?
the suspense is killing me.
doc are you going to try this experiment ?
I bought
this great book you might like.
I think a honey badger or a venus fly trap would probably have a go at eating a wasp. My younger brother once ate a mouthful of midges.
The reason we're doing this experiment is because my friend Jacob is in a wheelchair; the shoes pictured are his, and we figured that as the shoes don't get any wear, for his feet don't touch the ground, then they will almost certainly outlive us all. We were trying to think of any factors that might destroy the shoes before we all have shuffled off our mortal coils. They're already about 4-5 years old, and seem to be still in pretty good condition. They do get wet occasionally when it rains, but not to any serious extent.
Posted by
WarHead, around 13th May 2006:
And because Converse don't tend to change their designs a great deal, they won't relly go out of style either. All in all, probably a good choice.
Maybe Jacob could put the shoes in his will, along with a copy of this thread, and instructions to the effect that his descendants are to post a final entry after the last one of us is dead.
Oh I think if they're getting wet, even occasionally, then they wont last past, say, 40 years. And that's a fact.
So, they'll outlive you then Sul.
Hehe. Someone was enquiring about pensions today and asked me if I planned signing up.
"Nah"
"Really? Why's that?"
"Because I don't think I'll end up seeing it to be quite honest"
And it's the truth.
Only the good die young, Sulleh! ;)