Gadgetory

coming up on adventures in tech the psychology that fuels the smartphone war iOS Android a bitter war of gadget rivalry that shows no signs of abating but why do we get so worked up over something as ordinary as phone software the answer lies in the psychological makeup of humankind and the prehistoric mental mind games that our brains love to play I wanted to explore the science behind smartphone passion why do online discussions about Android or iOS so frequently turn aggressive but as it turns out grasping the intricacies of the human mind is harder than we thought you come across a tortoise lying face down in the desert subjective luckily we bumped into psychology lecturer mark Colson who explained that while fans grouping together is a natural human process the act of being part of these groups makes your brain do some very weird stuff group memberships and incredibly importantly we are social species we've designed to operate in groups but one of the things that goes alongside group coherence is some sense of difference from other groups and that might be translated into disliking or even aggression the technical name for these clubs are in-groups and out-groups humans can mentally place themselves in a group in mere minutes while research suggests that strong psychological allegiances can form over very trivial matters like whether iOS or Android is best or whether the heart-stopping Adventures of the handsome Captain Kirk are more exciting than the boring war councils of Captain Picard our tendency to form these gangs can have unwanted side effects our minds end up twisting the way we hear information so that the group we belong to seems superior not surprisingly perhaps when you're told information about a group you're not a member of you're more likely to remember the negative information and less likely to remember the positive information anyone with a human brain is vulnerable to this odd tribal behavior no matter how unimportant the thing you're siding with really is perceiving Android or iOS fans are sworn enemies isn't particularly helpful so why does it happen the answer is that once upon a time this sort of uncouth behavior could have kept you alive compared to mammoths and saber-toothed Tigers prehistoric humans were basically useless completely bereft of Awesome claws or shaggy fur to stay alive these pitiable Apes had to stick together as a group and to make that team spirit happen their brains emphasized the positive aspect of their own tribe while seeing the worst in other groups so we are a pack animal we're an animal that hunts in groups the best way to ensure that that's a successful strategy is to have processes that keep groups together of course this psychology stuff doesn't tell the whole story of why we feel so passionate Android and iOS but grasping how our caveman Minds influence our actions does help us understand why we get so wound up we live in a mind-blowing age but our daft old ate brains are still playing catch-up and we should be wary of letting these wants useful mental oddities get the better of us after all Android and iOS they're both pretty cool if we are people who have bought into iOS or Android then these are both fantastic tools they're wonderful they they allow us to do things which are really valuable why do you think we get so passionate about our mobiles and who's the better Captain Kirk or Picard let me know and tune in next time for another adventure in tech