More seriously: once a bit of tech becomes mainstream, it becomes politically easier to use it. Your manager has not heard of <cool tech>, but he did read about React in some business magazine. So when the choice is between React and bheadmaster's Funky Funkness Framework, he'll go with React.
Or do you consider my point about network effect in tech stacks being similar to religious beliefs to be antagonistic by itself?
If PP had used that, would it have been antagonistic? Racist?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50,000,000_Elvis_Fans_Can%27t_...
It’s not just that. There are practical reasons to choose the bandwagon, even if you know it’s not the technically optimal approach.
If you’re planning on hiring junior and mid level engineers, for example, it’s a great help if they already know the technologies involved. Your hiring pool for React is a lot bigger than for a more obscure tool. Additionally, the popular tools also tend to be stable and long lasting, with good support.
So, there are compelling business reasons to choose what’s popular, even if you aren’t making assumptions about the technical quality just because its popular.
It becomes something akin to a religion - after all, 2 billion Christians can't be wrong, can they?