If they could better train people, they could replace most stop signs with yield signs, and it would be better for bikes, cars, and the planet.
I'm not sure people even agree on how stop signs work.
Imagine this scenario:
Car A arrives at a 4-way stop sign, intending to turn left.
1 second later, Car B arrives from the opposite direction, intending to continue straight.
Who gets to cross the intersection first? Is it:
A) Car A because they arrived at the intersection earlier, or
B) Car B because, after stopping, they are continuing straight, and thus are not required to yield to a car that's turning?
Not 'of course'. One second is arguably reaching the intersection at the same time.
Fine.
Pretend instead of "1 second" it was a tenth of a second. Or a hundredth of a second.
Surely at that point both cars are arriving "at the same time". "same time" is not measured with a laser interferometer. It's about human perception.
So yes, sometimes "different times" are "at the same time"! Especially when you're measuring something with a very vague threshold like "arriving" at an intersection.
In the opposite direction, if it was ten seconds, then it's blatantly obvious that the cars aren't arriving at the same time.
At one second, "same time" and "not the same time" arguments are both plausible, and in the real world I think I'd lean toward treating it as the "same time". But it's not an objective truth either way. One second is in the fuzzy range.
So I tend to be more aggressive and just start out slowly ready if the other person does the same thing if I perceive it to be "my turn".
Or, I might get there a bit faster so It's crystal clear that I was first and I can get my turn over with while they're still coming to a stop.
But that gray area in between is no good, for the reason you say: people don't agree on the order of operations. Better to avoid it entirely.