UK neuroscientists have found that Apple imagery activates the same parts of the brain in Apple fanboys that religious imagery does in followers of that religion. In heated arguments on the Internet, some users sometimes say that Apple is like a cult, and it seems there might be at least some truth to that.
A recent BBC TV documentary, Secrets of the Superbrands, looked at why technology brands have become so popular. The first episode was focused on Apple, but it will move on to other companies, like Twitter, Facebook, and possibly even Microsoft and Google.
Alex Brooks, the editor of World of Apple, is a self-described Apple evangelist. The researchers gave him an MRI and studied his brain to see how it reacted when he was shown images of Apple and non-Apple products. When images of Apple products were displayed in front of him, his brain reacted the same way a religious follower's brain reacts when they are shown imagery associated with their religion.
Right now, this phenomenon has only been confirmed for the Apple brand. It's very possible that when any person shows incredible loyalty to a brand to the point of devotion, seeing related images will also stimulate the same parts of their brain.
Does this mean that being a crazed fanboy is similar to being a religious fanatic? Maybe. I would say it's too early to tell, but there is probably a correlation between buying products just because they come from a given company and accepting everything a given group tells you as fact because you've declared your faith to it.
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