More wheels or doors in world; Tiktok trend takes over conversation

     Do you think there are more wheels or doors in the world? This question has plagued many conversations and started numerous arguments since the beginning of March.

     Starting as a Twitter poll and making its way to TikTok, the debate has gone viral.  With over 200,000 votes during the last few weeks, team wheels won 54% to 46%. In a poll of 150 North Harford students, 84% chose wheels.

     Oxford defines a wheel as “a circular object that revolves on an axle and is fixed below a vehicle or other object to enable it to move easily over the ground.” It defines a door as “a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard.”

     Some people have different definitions. “Almost every single door in your home has a door handle on it,” Tim Steele, a senior in support of more wheels in the world, starts. “Door handles are an example of wheels, so for almost every single door, there is a wheel. Cars cancel out because most four-door cars have four wheels.”

     “I say wheels too because if you think about classrooms, especially in colleges, there are usually two doors, but then of all the chairs in the classroom, they are most likely chairs that have four to five wheels,” Kendall Gover, senior, explains. “So compare all the wheels in the chairs compared to the two doors, there [are] more wheels.”

     Listening to her peers’ arguments, senior Annika Peterson adds “I also agree with wheels because of conveyor belts and swivel chairs.”

     Steele mentions Lego, the largest producer of tires in the world. Lego produces over 300 million tires a year, according to Guinness World Records.

     “There are more wheels because wheels are everywhere,” junior Nick Jones says. “There are wheels in a lot of places. Chairs have wheels. Carts have wheels, like shopping carts. There [are] so many shopping carts. Hot wheel cars, matchbox cars, there [are] so many of them.

     “There [are] obviously more wheels because a door has to open, so the hot wheels cars, their doors don’t open so those don’t count as doors,” Jones explains. “You think about big buildings, yeah they have a lot of doors but they also probably have office chairs because those have a lot of wheels.”

     “In my eyes, a door is anything that opens to let things through it [and] a wheel is something that spins to cause movement,” Dean Conway, junior, says. “By those definitions, I think there are more wheels. Because a wheel can be a cog in a machine, it doesn’t have to be big enough for something to pass through it, therefore there is [the] possibility for more wheels in the world.”

     Sammi Price, junior, originally thought there were more doors until she heard Jones’ and Conway’s arguments. “I’m going to say wheels now because some cars only have two doors but they have four wheels,” she says.

     “A doorknob is a wheel so therefore wheels win,” Blake Howell, sophomore, explains. “They already have half of the doors.”

     Will Cummings, a sophomore, believes there are more wheels in the world. “You [have] to think about bikes, 18 wheelers, shopping carts, also toy cars. It’s a lot of wheels,” he says.

     Freshman Micah Walker agrees with wheels “because there are a lot of cars.”

     “There [are] more doors in this world than there [are] wheels,” Sean Anderson, sophomore, says. “ The definition of a door is anything with a handle that can open. Look around, there [are a lot of] doors in this school counting lockers, doors, and then locker rooms. I bet there [are] probably ten million more doors in this world than there [are] wheels.”

     “It is doors,” Kyle Demos, sophomore, says. “As far as cars go, they all have the same amount of doors as wheels. Houses have a lot more doors than wheels. For it to be a wheel it has to have an axle. There [are] just a lot more doors.”

     Junior and supporter of doors, Riley Stewart sticks to her argument despite being outnumbered by her peers. “There [are] doors everywhere,” she says. 

     After bringing up Hot Wheels cars, Eakes responds to Stewart by saying “the doors on Hot Wheels cars don’t open, they are not doors.  They are plastic things that look like doors,” she elaborates. “It is not on a hinge and doesn’t move–it’s not a door.

     “It’s nice because it’s a debate that doesn’t matter so it’s not like normal debates where feelings get hurt,” Eakes says. “I think it’s fun because I know I’m right and I love debating when I know I’m right.”

     Price says she likes the trend. “It just gets people thinking,” she says.

     “I think it’s a good thought-provoking exercise and I think that anyone that believes there are more doors is wrong,” Conway says.

     “Half of the internet is focused on World War III, half of it’s focused on doors and wheels,” Howell explains.

     “I’m just waiting for a day when someone counts all the doors and wheels in the world,” Cummings says.

     “It’s a fun opportunity for people to bully you,” Stewart says.