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Slashdot is quoting a blog quoting some research that concludes once we make a choice and throw our lot behind something, the commitment switch is thrown in our brain to convince us that what we have chosen is just way too incredibly freakingly fantastic.
Some of us eventually wake up and smell the roses, but others are doomed to being pudgy balding middle-aged men in toy stores staring longingly at cheap plastic Star Wars crap.
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We've all encountered them. They lurk in Internet message boards, comment threads, and chatrooms. Addressing anyone and everyone, they type up lengthy tirades with Cheeto-stained fingers, extolling the virtues of their product or brand of choice. They angrily accuse even the most impartial reviewers of taking handouts from reviled competitors of a beloved company, and they casually and systematically dismiss any evidence that might conflict with their worldview. Scientific studies have pointed to the existence of a basal process that, when one chooses between two roughly equally desirable items, causes the brain's perception of the two items to change significantly.
...
Are you starting to feel compassion for belligerent fanboys yet? Clearly, they can't help refusing to see reason. Their brains have automatically and unconsciously re-wired themselves to view their product of choice as markedly superior. Competition that might have seemed just as good before now appears clearly inferior to them. In their minds, everyone else is irrationally refusing to see the world as it is. Why wouldn't they get mad and write angry rants on message boards? To make matters worse, everyone seems to behave that way—yes, even you—albeit to varying degrees. We all possess a natural propensity to engage in that kind of behavior. Luckily, as humans, we're blessed with the ability to tone down natural behaviors and use higher levels of thought to see and interact with the world more rationally. All it takes is admitting that you have a problem...
http://techreport.co...ussions.x/21294
http://science.slash...ehind-Fanboyism
...
Are you starting to feel compassion for belligerent fanboys yet? Clearly, they can't help refusing to see reason. Their brains have automatically and unconsciously re-wired themselves to view their product of choice as markedly superior. Competition that might have seemed just as good before now appears clearly inferior to them. In their minds, everyone else is irrationally refusing to see the world as it is. Why wouldn't they get mad and write angry rants on message boards? To make matters worse, everyone seems to behave that way—yes, even you—albeit to varying degrees. We all possess a natural propensity to engage in that kind of behavior. Luckily, as humans, we're blessed with the ability to tone down natural behaviors and use higher levels of thought to see and interact with the world more rationally. All it takes is admitting that you have a problem...
http://techreport.co...ussions.x/21294
http://science.slash...ehind-Fanboyism
Now my reformed Star Wars crack addicts, do you wonder if you are truly reformed? Well this story is tagged on Slashdot with the tags: "linux android apple google science story" Yes, Star Wars is so off the radar these days that a discussion of fanboys it doesn't even warrant a mention. Does this offend you? If not, you are cured.
And if you thought nothing could be pathetic than a Boba Fet fanboy then, wow:
This post has been edited by Toru-chan: 15 July 2011 - 05:17 PM
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