Are there more wheels or doors in the world? We asked an MIT professor for the answer
Doors or wheels? That is the question: Whether ’tis nobler …
A debate to determine whether there are more wheels or doors in the world has taken the internet by storm. No, really.
The discussion has divided social media users into teams, with one side pointing to hotels, apartment buildings and dorms and the other citing suitcases, bicycles and other common items that function with wheels.
According to the website Know Your Meme, which tracks popular internet memes, the debate started raging when Twitter user Ryan Nixon posted a poll last week asking: “Do you think there are more doors or wheels in the world?”
More than 223,000 people voted in the poll, with wheels beating out doors.
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“There is no Team Wheels and Team Doors. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of this situation we find ourselves in. There is a Team Wheels, and then there is a Team People Who are Mistaken,” author John Green said on TikTok.
Carlo Ratti, a professor at the department of urban studies and planning at MIT, told USA TODAY that although he has not tried to calculate a definite answer, there are “many ways to look at this.”
He said his gut feeling was that there are more doors in the world, pointing to doors inside homes and at offices, restaurants, shops, supermarkets and more.
“I’m more like a door person,” he said. “The number of doors should be taken into account, and not just by looking at what’s in our homes.”
He also noted that rideshare options, such as Uber, could be pointing to a troubling trend for #TeamWheels.
“I had a car. I don’t have a car anymore. So now I just use an Uber when needed. I get a Zipcar. I get a scooter,” he said. “Shared mobility is reducing the number of wheels per person.”
Some social media users also noted that the debate lacks a definition of what qualifies as a wheel and a door. For example, do kitchen cabinets count for #TeamDoor?
Others have been overwhelmed by the question and ensuing debate.
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