Showerthoughts @lemmy.world henfredemars @infosec.pub 6 mo. ago

Is cave exploration an indoor or an outdoor activity?

You’re indoors in the sense that you’re protected from the weather and the elements, and the cave could even have some kind of covering or entrance area that could be considered a door or doorway. People have built homes in caves.

Is caving an outside, inside activity?

40 comments

It depends if the cave has a door.
- Some people live in huts or other types of human dwellings that don’t have entry doors. They have doorways.
  
  When I was visiting the Philippines I saw homes on stilts that did not actually have doors, but I would certainly consider the inside of such a structure to be indoors. Pre-colonial architecture may not use a front door.
  
  I recognize this isn’t a great argument, but it’s arguable I think in principle.
  
  If you don’t go in a door you’re not indoors.
  
  Tbf the root of door dates to when it was most likely the hole in the hut you walked in through
- Do I have to walk through the door? Can there just be a door at one of the entrances?
  
  What if I enter a cave through a door installed in a doorway, but there are other entrances that don’t have doors?
  
  What if you enter the cave through an opening where the door isn’t but I know the cave system has a door at one of the entrances elsewhere?
  
  If you go in the door you’re indoors but if you don’t you’re outdoor.
  
  This could lead to a strange situation where you enter the cave through a doorless entrance and leave through an entrance with a door, making the outdoors indoors in the split second before you fade from existence.
- Username aside, man has a point
It’s neither, it’s an underground activity :)
Is there usually a door at the entrance to a cave?
- In Germany? Yes
- Ever played the elder scrolls?
What room has a roof and ceiling but no walls…

A mush-room!^^
- Lichen your style
  
  You moss be kidding, that was leek at best.
I say outdoors. Indoors has a vibe of being human made to me, and a low likelihood of encountering wildlife. So I guess walking around a mine is indoor cave exploration
- Many caves are modified to accommodate their visitors. This could be a small as leaving behind oxygen tanks or equipment, or as advanced as installing electrical wiring and ventilation. This was the case of several caves I visited as a tourist with no real exploration skills.
  
  there are other ways to modify a cave
Yes
Now that's a good question. I believe it's still outdoors, indoors has the meaning of "comfort from your own home" rather than meaning inside a closed off area. Knitting is an indoor activity, hiking is outdoors
- Lots of sports are played indoors that isn't inside someone's home.
I would consider a cave to be "outdoors" unless maybe somethings been done to it to make it into a dwelling. Since there is no door it's at least somewhat open to the elements, you would have to contend with various wildlife that may live there, the floor would be either dirt or bare rock, these are all things one would have to deal with while doing "outdoor activities"
I'm going to say outdoor.

The "door" part doesn't really have any significance. No one would say camping under the open sky is an indoor activity, even if there's a fence with a door around the campsite.

I think it makes more sense for the deciding factor be whether you're in a controlled or uncontrolled environment. And while part of the cave might be controlled if there's an artificial entryway or home, that's not what you're there to see.
- Maybe I'm gatekeeping, but isn't a fence door a gate?
- I’ve been in show caves in Bonaire that had some degree of climate control, mainly for humidity and to ensure sufficient oxygen for visitors for a comfortable experience and to accommodate large groups.
  
  Certainly that’s the exception rather than the rule in my case.
Caves are outdoors because a bunker is indoors and the cave around it is outdoors.
- Just for the sake of argument and fun:
  
  Aren’t we all outdoors because we are living in buildings that are themselves outside?
I agree with the door argument but would also add my two cents... If it's a cave dwelling it would be inside but you also wouldn't be cave exploring. You'd be in a 'civilized' area
- 'Civilized'? You've clearly not seen my house then, it's wall-to-wall beer cans, some empty, some not, some with piss in
  
  That's why civilized was in quotes. You're "civilized"
Depending on the development of the spelunking infrastructure entering the cave might entail going in then outdoors again.

Indoors is an enclosed building, outdoors is everything outside of that

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