An original CSS contributor recently tweeted some info about the origin of !important. He said it was only added in order to force adherence to governmental regulation on font size. I always knew it was a bit naughty but it really kind of reconfigured my perspective on it at a time when I happened to be thinking about precedence more anyway, and this topic coming along was oddly relevant as well in that regard.
https://mobile.twitter.com/stevenpem...39184287870981
Bit off topic but hopefully of some interest.