Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image • Hacker News Board

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#51

Post by gruseom » Thu, Aug 18, 2011, 2:37 PM UTC

hugh3 wrote: post #45

gruseom wrote: post #10

Humans treat criticism of favorite anything as threat to self-image.

Not necessarily. Not all humans. Perhaps insecure humans, or humans without enough going on in their lives. For instance, if I tell you my favourite breakfast cereal is Raisin Bran, and you tell me that Raisin Bran suxx0rs and Rice Krispies rulez then I'm not really gonna take that as a big threat to my self-image -- I'll just think that you're a weirdo for having such strongly expressed preferences on such matters.…

Heh. Is the phenomenon absent in those cases, or just weaker?

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#52

Post by podperson » Thu, Aug 18, 2011, 4:26 PM UTC

hugh3 wrote: post #48

podperson wrote: post #35

It seems to me that passions flare when people are forced to make an expensive, difficult to reverse choice based on insufficient evidence between similar but highly incompatible products. E.g. which car is going to be better? I don't know, there's really no way to find out (history is at best a guide), so I do "research" and make a choice and now I am stuck with it. I'd like to believe I made a good choice, so any e…

* It seems to me that passions flare when people are forced to make an expensive, difficult to reverse choice based on insufficient evidence between similar but highly incompatible products. E.g. which car is going to be better? I don't know, there's really no way to find out (history is at best a guide), so I do "research" and make a choice and now I am stuck with it. I'd like to believe I made a good choice, so any…

You're overly focused on iPhone vs. Android without considering all the other kinds of fanboism out there that simply go under other labels, whether it's patriotism, religion, favorite TV show, or brand of camera.

Is it all teenage boys? Well, teenage boys are a lot more passionate and vocal about whatever it is they're interested in than other demographics, but you don't have to look hard to find middle-aged Nikon fanatics, or Protestant nut jobs.

Re: Fanbois treat criticism of favorite brands as threat to self-image

#53

Post by hugh3 » Fri, Aug 19, 2011, 2:35 AM UTC

podperson wrote: post #52

hugh3 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* It seems to me that passions flare when people are forced to make an expensive, difficult to reverse choice based on insufficient evidence between similar but highly incompatible products. E.g. which car is going to be better? I don't know, there's really no way to find out (history is at best a guide), so I do "research" and make a choice and now I am stuck with it. I'd like to believe I made a good choice, so any…

You're overly focused on iPhone vs. Android without considering all the other kinds of fanboism out there that simply go under other labels, whether it's patriotism, religion, favorite TV show, or brand of camera. Is it all teenage boys? Well, teenage boys are a lot more passionate and vocal about whatever it is they're interested in than other demographics, but you don't have to look hard to find middle-aged Nikon f…

I don't think I actually mentioned iPhone or Android in my comment -- did you mean to reply to someone else?

However, I think you're excessively conflating different types of fanaticism here. Fanaticism about personal electronics, or TV shows, or brands of car, or brands of camera, is silly because these things don't fucking matter. Religious fanaticism, on the other hand, is fanaticism about something that is important. I myself don't believe any religion is likely to be true, but if I did, then this would be a sensible thing to get all worked up about.

The stakes of choosing the wrong camera are that you might wind up taking slightly worse pictures under certain circumstances. The stakes of choosing the wrong religion are (according to the tenets of those religions) that you'll get rewarded or punished for all eternity.

Likewise, patriotism can often be silly but at least it's about something important. If my favourite TV show ceased to exist it would be a minor bummer, whereas if my favourite country ceased to exist then I'd have some serious problems.