I’ve been wearing footwear of the wrong size, material, and shape for as long as I can remember, certainly at least 20 years.

Only recently have I fixed this, and I come with great tidings: if you, too, hate wearing shoes, and the industrial revolution and its consequences, it is possible to be cured of at least one of these ailments.

The problem is three-shaped, and is named as follows: wrong size, wrong material, and wrong shape.

1. Wrong size

My algorithm for buying shoes was roughly this:

Be somewhere where there's a shoe store nearby, like a mall, for an unrelated reason.
Remember that I should probably get new shoes.
Go inside.
First filter: find the maximum size the store sells.
That size is EU 46, maybe 46 and 2/3, if I’m lucky 47.
Second filter: find a decently good-looking shoe that's of the maximum size.
Buy those shoes.
Be in pain for a year or two.

I would just get the largest shoe, which wasn’t large enough, and call it a day.

Dear reader, it is at this point that you might be asking yourself: “is this person completely retarded?”

That is indeed a fair question [...]

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Outline:

(00:38) 1. Wrong size

(02:05) 2. Wrong material

(03:32) 3. Wrong shape

(05:18) Addendum: why is it possible to be in pain and forget about it?

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First published:
February 2nd, 2026

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6R3Y5WKvw2q6c5gF9/i-finally-fixed-my-footwear

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Images from the article:

Black Adidas Samba sneaker with white stripes and gum sole.

Three shoes showing different toe box widths: wide, wide, and foot-shaped.

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“I finally fixed my footwear” by dominicq

LessWrong (30+ Karma)