I know shitpost and all that but this isn't actually true, as in it can't be verified. It was one small mention in a book (Threshold Resistance) by A&W owner Mr. Taubman. He basically said he wanted to know why his same priced 1/3 burgers weren't outselling competing 1/4 pounders...from a competitor...that I'm sure you can guess. So, he hired a marketing firm who put together a little focus group in the 80s. Some of those focus group members supposedly didn't know that 1/3 lb. is bigger than 1/4 lb. burgers.

Keep in mind that there's no evidence or any firm mentioned and the bias surrounding the author that is writing a book about his experiences including a failed venture.

All we know is it is one man's anecdote and it has been used for 39 years so far to make fun of Americans for supposedly not understanding fractions.

[–] ImpossibilityBox@lemmy.world 79 points 8 months ago (5 children)

I work in a customer facing position in the US where factions of an inch are used for measurements frequently in the design of a product. I deal with people who don't know 5/8 is smaller than 3/4 or that 3/8 is smaller than 1/2 on literally a daily basis.

People are dumb and I absolutely believe the burger anecdote.

[–] match@pawb.social 25 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What if you just didn't use fractions of an inch

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 17 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Fractions of 3 barley corn just seems even more confusing...

[–] JargonWagon@lemmy.world 21 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I work with people who can't count on a daily basis - This doesn't mean that nobody can count, it just means that I get calls/emails where someone made a mistake and they need help correcting it. I get to see all of these instances occurring which creates a focus on it and in turn, a bias - if I only get calls/emails of people not being able to count, but no calls/emails about people not being able to spell, then the bias I have is that people suck at counting and are good at spelling.

My point is that there are plenty of people that do understand it, but the people that don't stand out and create a bias in your perspective.

[–] Liz@midwest.social 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Imagine getting a call:

"Hey), just calling to tell you everything went fine and I don't need any help. Bye!"

[–] JargonWagon@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Those are the best calls lol
"Hello- Oh, you know what, it's working now we figured it out, sorry. Have a good day!"

[–] valek879@sh.itjust.works 15 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You know I don't work with fractions of an inch on a daily basis... Or even monthly. But inevitably a couple times a year it's relevant. Every single time I have to take 3/4 multiply it by 2 and get 6/8, then I have to subtract 1/8 to get to 5/8. Repeat ad nauseum to get to whatever time fraction is needed.

It's frustrating and slow and makes me feel dumb.

That said last time I did it, I measured a 1/8th difference between cabinets we ordered from IKEA and the space they went in and I'll tell you what, I felt like a genius when it all just fit, perfectly.

[–] sukhmel@programming.dev 3 points 8 months ago

Now imagine how good you'd feel if you used Roman numerals to do that

On a serious note, I once heard that an important reason maths was hard for Romans is because of a wrecked writing system. So maybe not using fractions other than fractions of 10 is the way to go

[–] brbposting@sh.itjust.works 7 points 8 months ago

Reminded of… Verizon Math (Piped)

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