Why do people attach their egos to inanimate or intangible objects? The age old question just becomes more and more perplexig as time goes by. It becomes frustrating to those of us that have no desire to do as such, and is the primary reason that my New Year's resolution is to steer clear of forums and public posting sites to try to alleviate some of my negative feelings about the whole scene. So before I say goodbye, I thought I'd post this question, because it seems as though the the majority of the forum threads that have a contradictory/argumentative nature are the ones that go on the longest on most sites (including vgchartz), and it is exasperating to have to weed through all of them just to get to an actual topic of news or information rather than rhetorical gibberish and conjecture-ridden angst.
At this point is seems that this console ego-mania is on par and has become comparable with sports team infatuation. People become so engrossed in teams that not only do they sing the praises of their favorite team, but begin to "hate" other specific competing teams. Sports fans feel the need to defend their team from every attack and criticism, as if it matters what anyone else's opinion is (considering it has no effect on anything to do with the actual team itself or that teams win-loss record). These people refer to their preferred teams as "We". So often you hear "We won" or "We this" or "We that". Yet there is no actual affiliation with said team. The fans don't play on the team. They watch it from the comfort of their couch with a bag of Doritos and a 2-liter of Mountain Dew on hand. Why do people begin to feel like they are part of a team of people that they have no real connection with?
This is identical to the console love/hate. I'm pretty sure no one here actually had any part in the development of any of the current consoles, be it 360, Wii, Ps3, or any of the handhelds, thus having pride in any given system seems ridiculous. Yet egos are attached. Pride is born. You didn't make it, so where does the feeling of association come from? You didn't make it. You have no stock in the company. They don't know who you are and will never do anything based on your individual thoughts or feelings, but you sing their praises and attack on their behalf. All that you did was buy it. Does simply paying money for something give you the rights of admission into some special club that borders on religious conviction? When I buy a loaf of bread, I don't take pride in that bread. I don't try to slap the sandwich out of someone else's mouth because the brand of bread they used is inferior to the brand I like. I don't think that if they like that type of bread, they are wrong and must be berated until they agree with my tastes. So if we don't do this with stupid things like bread , or staplers, or cigarettes, or Exxon brand gasoline, why do people do it with consoles? It's a hunk of plastic. It can't help you move your furniture. It can't go see a movie with you. It's not your girlfriend. And you didn't give birth to it. Yet somehow, it has "PRIDE" written all over it.
This is basically a question of psychology I guess. So for those that do feel pride in their plastic machines (or sports team...or even bread), why is that? What makes you attach your ego to an inanimate object enough to feel compelled to defend it from others and attack those that have a different viewpoint? I'm truly curious about this and it's causes. So please add any serious thoughts on the matter if you will.
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