Ever since the first prehistoric man who lived in a cave discovered another who didn't - and likely bashed his head in for daring to be so different - people have tended to think along the lines of "us" and "them."
Anyone who agrees with whatever you think - be it politics, religion or favourite comic book publisher - is a kind-hearted and intelligent brother in the "us" camp, while those who disagree are penguin-molesting degenerates who'd better keep their blasphemous thoughts over there in the filthy "them" tenements.
I read about a study where a kindergarten class was told that people with blue eyes were superior to those with brown. Within hours, apparently, the blue-eyed children were picking on those unfortunates with brown eyes. Later, the researchers told the class they had mixed it up, and it was brown-eyes that denoted superiority. Instead of being compassionate because of their previous suffering, the brown-eyed kids did the same things to their blue-eyed peers.
I suppose those with green or grey eyes were excused for the day and probably went to the park or something and had ice cream.
Doesn't David Bowie have two different coloured eyes?
Boy, that would have messed him up but I'm getting away from my point.
You would think that after thousands of years we could overcome this propensity to hate anything that's different, but even our modern technology isn't immune to all the feudin' and fightin'.
For a while there, all the geeks had to argue about was whether they were "PCs" or "Macs" - meaning whether they were loyal to Microsoft or Apple products and computers.
But now with so many options for web-browsing software, we can all find new ways to dislike or otherwise disparage other folks for making choices we didn't.
Right now you probably use Internet Explorer (IE), Safari or Firefox to surf the Internet.
I'm sure most of you don't even think about which one you're using, or even made a conscious choice.
You're probably just using the one that was originally installed on your computer.
But for people who live and breathe technology, it's cause for some serious debate.
Yeah - we don't get out much.
But it's true.
"Firefox is faster and safer for browsing than Internet Explorer," say some of my techie friends.
It's also apparently one of the choices for smarter people, according to a recently released report by a Vancouver-based, Web-consulting firm called Aptiquant.
According to the report, Internet Explorer users scored lower on IQ tests than users of other Web browsers.
The online test, according to reports on CNN, CNET, CBC and other news agencies, not only gauged participants' intelligence, but also from which browser they were using to answer.
It turns out, however, that it's the intelligence of those worldwide journalists that was actually being tested, when the BBC (thanks to eagle-eyed readers) reported that the report was actually a hoax.
The perpetrators of the prank had gone so far as to make a fully functioning Aptiquant. website, but its content was directly stolen from a French company called Central Test.
The site has since posted an admission.
So, in the end, it was nothing more than someone who didn't like Microsoft trying to convince people that only dummies use that software.
It's clearly another example of one unevolved person being unable to get past the "us" and "them" mentality.
Gosh, I'm glad we're not like that.
Don't you just hate those kinds of people?
