Me too. I'm constantly surprised by the amount of Stockholm Syndrome reminding behavior in the tech world. I'm not sure if this behavior is more common in this world or I see it more because that's the bubble I'm living in. Watching people bending backwards to rationalize their irrational decisions never ceases to confuse me.
> (...) any decision other than what you would have made is "irrational."
Of course! How would rationality be independent of one's values? When I'm choosing, I choose what I choose because I think the other options are, even if very slightly, worse than the one I'm choosing. If I know the full context, options and the decision made from another individual and that decision isn't the one I would make, I would call it irrational and that would be my opinion. That situation could mean that we don't share the same values/beliefs or have different information.
My curiosity stated in my comment was genuine as one would expect higher information equality and similar values/beliefs among the people in the same community compared to a random set of people. However, my experience is different. Even when new information becomes available, I see people bending their values to keep their previous decisions "rational" and interestingly this, if you ask me, is more common in the tech world.
> (...) jerks like you (...)
I think that was uncalled for, but then, I guess you have strong beliefs in this area. Have a nice day.
I don't think it's uncalled for that someone who would judge others and call them "irrational" for something like their smartphone choice be called out as a jerk.
I didn't call anyone being irrational and definitely didn't have anyone's smartphone decision in my mind (I had, instead, people arguing for their favorite programming language in mind, to be honest). Also, I think you are more judging than I am.
At this point, I can't take what you are saying as anything more than random attacks, sorry.
Except that's exactly what we were talking about here: Saying that people are "irrational" for not buying the same thing the poster did, in this case, Apple products. And I believe that if you care that much about what other people are using to the point where you would have to question their rationality, then you're a class-A jerk.
> The amount straw grasping I've seen when people try to justify their purchases leaves me unable to tell anymore
The Mac mention in the grand-(...)-parent is just an example there. Surprise: I own a Mac.
> Except that's exactly what we were talking about here: Saying that people are "irrational" for not buying the same thing the poster did, in this case, Apple products.
It seems to me that you are the only one talking about people being irrational or not. People can't be irrational. Decisions can and only with different knowledge and/or values.
> I believe that if you care that much about what other people are using to the point where you would have to question their rationality, then you're a class-A jerk.
Class-A attack towards a straw man! :) Your potential issues with a stereotype have nothing to do with what I said. Good luck in your crusade, though.
