Teo · 10 answers · 4y

Why do you think having very strong opinions on things that don't really matter in the grand scheme is such a common and fun(?) phenomenon? (e.g., pineapple on pizza, water is wet, etc.)

Because it's fucking hilarious. I always rewatch that video where those two dudes are arguing over The Wizard of Oz and whether the wicked witch of the east's sister is a princess or a witch. The sheer anger and passion that dude expresses over the topic kills me and I 100% identify with it.

They’re safe topics to “argue” about or discuss. I don’t think anyone has ever gotten into a fist fight or divorced over whether water is wet etc.

It's something easy and safe to argue and just have a gigl about. Who gives a shit if you like a different kind of pizza? It's a nice break from more serious topics that people just cannot have civilized conversations about for more than 5 seconds

Interesting you 'use water is wet' as an example. Pineapple on pizza matters though. It is a matter of taste. Everything that enters my mouth is a matter of taste, so it matters by definition. ;-))

People like to validate their own opinions, even if they only concern trivial things like laurel/yanny or that stupid dress.. We all have an inherent bias that makes us feel compelled to defend our tastes in things.

It's probably a diversion from our strong feelings about things that do matter that we can't change. Things that make us feel helpless and hopeless. Idk. There are probably other reasons. I'm not a part of this phenomenon.

I think we are wired to be tribal - us good normal folk over here and those monsters over there who eat their cereal with water, and the world is so fucked that being able to engage about it in a harmless way is kind of a relief

Retrospring uses Markdown for formatting

*italic text* for italic text

**bold text** for bold text

[link](https://example.com) for link