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Take something you don’t like and try to like it

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Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#211

Post by vintermann »

I see two (really just one) reasons to try to learn to like something you currently don't.

The first one, and the only real one, is to get closer to other people. Someone you like, who you want to understand, and maybe more like. Someone it's worth becoming at least a slightly different person for, in terms of how you approach the world.

The second reason is boredom. It's actually just the first reason in disguise.

But this is why recommendation algorithms and culture-related ads can be so viscerally offensive. "Hello kids! Want to be more like Spotify's ideal of the perfect music consumer?" and the answer of actual kids is often yes, because they think other kids will say yes too, and they'd be too lonely only liking things no one else likes.

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#212

Post by lvturner »

sethammons wrote: post #178
stavros wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Something that my wife will insist has no or little seafood in will taste like I am eating the entire ocean. I can relate, I'm the same with coffee and alcohol. Coffee just tastes like I'm eating/drinking charcoal, and alcohol tastes like bleach. People always go "oh but you can't taste the alcohol in this cocktail!". No, you can't taste the alcohol, it tastes like lemon-flavored bleach to me.

Wait - are there people who don't taste alcohol that way? I also taste charcoal for all coffee/espresso and people say the beans were burnt. Nope, my buddy ran a coffee shop and my kid is a coffee aficionado. All charcoal. But I just assumed everyone thought alcohol tasted like what I imagine bleach to give impressions of.

Interesting!

I've never thought alcohol tastes like bleach, though in some I can now certainly get a taste of "ethanol", same with the charcoal coffee thing -- many flavours I've found in coffee, but never charcoal.

I wouldn't be surprised if we all have some kind of genetic marker/mutation (I'm not a biologist, sorry!) that impacts the way we taste certain foods.

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#214

Post by Chris2048 »

cardanome wrote: post #209
flakeoil wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You start the day in a dopamine deficit and need to start with small tasks that gives you quick wins. You can't tackle the important but absolutely boring work head on, you need to do some stimulating activities first to get the ball rolling. Sounds like just about every human being.

The difference is that neurotypical people often have a super power that is called not having a executive dysfunction. If they want to do the task, think the task is important and are able to do the task, they can just do the task. It is hard for me to even imagine that such a thing can exist but it absolutely is the case. The difference is how strict the "need" it. Like neurotypical people also benefit from working…

Are you on an AD(H)D medications?

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#215

Post by omgmajk »

alsetmusic wrote: post #140
gchamonlive wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the other spectrum I think. I like a lot of stuff, but I don't seem to be able to immerse myself in them. The flow doesn't come easily. Instead I feel detached and ambivalent about pretty much everything. It's fine that I'm doing, and while I'm doing it I'll do it with a lot of presence. I also get very good at it. But in time I just wanna lazy out and watch TV while browsing the web. It's pretty sad and I wis…

> I wish I could will myself into one obsession or another. I understand. Not sure if you’re in the same boat, but for me, it’s a combination of age, energy, time, and becoming jaded. I used to spend late night hours poking at new things to learn about new hobbies and the like. The older I get, the less time and energy I’m willing to excerpt. This has been great for my getting back to reading books, but it’s been a s…

Are you me? I feel like this 100% mirrors myself. I've been slowing down the learning, I have a list of things I need to get myself to learn but I just can't find the energy to poke and prod. But I have started reading more books again.

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#216

Post by mk12 »

freetime2 wrote: post #146
trentnix wrote: post #16

As a compulsive, I have the problem of liking too many things. I don’t drink coffee because in a month I’ll be neck deep in forums about the proper way to grind beans. I don’t own an aquarium because I’ll be obsessively learning about perfect water pH for the most exotic fish. I don’t drink hot tea because I’ll be studying growth patterns and how seasonality affects leaves and their flavor. I don’t drink beer because…

> I don’t drink coffee because in a month I’ll be neck deep in forums about the proper way to grind beans. This was me last week. I was looking to buy a new coffee grinder, and I just could not believe the way that people on the Internet talk about these things. One popular coffee YouTuber recommended a $200 hand grinder as an entry level grinder [1]. There's also a widely repeated concept in the community of the "en…

I used that Hario grinder for years but eventually the clear base part broke. I continued using it by grinding directly into the AeroPress but it was pretty annoying. I finally upgraded to a KINGrinder K6 and it’s amazing how much better it is. It grinds way, way faster.

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#217

Post by cardanome »

Chris2048 wrote: post #214
cardanome wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that neurotypical people often have a super power that is called not having a executive dysfunction. If they want to do the task, think the task is important and are able to do the task, they can just do the task. It is hard for me to even imagine that such a thing can exist but it absolutely is the case. The difference is how strict the "need" it. Like neurotypical people also benefit from working…

Are you on an AD(H)D medications?

Personally no because I am currently too disorganized to find a doctor that would prescribe it to me, despite being diagnosed already. I live in a country that is very backwards when it comes to mental health and where the system is designed so it is very hard to get help in hope most people don't so healthcare costs can be kept down.

Generally, medication is the most effective treatment for ADHD by far but also does only work for like 80 percent of ADHD people. Some need to cope without it either way.

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#218

Post by palata »

carlosjobim wrote: post #207
spauldo wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You must be in a very different part of the world than I am. One with grand cathedrals, perhaps. Where I'm from, a church is usually a big box with a brick facade, glass doors, paint over drywall interiors, and fake wood trim. Outside of the decorations, they're much like office buildings. They generally have a small steeple somewhere that holds no bell and only serves to identify the building as a church, because ot…

Everywhere in the world, it's normal for churches and temples to be either the oldest, the largest, or the most beautiful buildings. Or all of those. But of course not always.

It's just that in some countries, the oldest buildings are not particularly old :-).

Re: Take something you don’t like and try to like it

#220

Post by cmpalmer52 »

kelseydh wrote: post #156
cmpalmer52 wrote: post #138

I tried salted licorice. Granted, I don’t really like sweet licorice, or anise, or fennel, or any of the liquors that use that flavoring, but I tolerate them. The salted licorice was the worst thing I’d ever tasted. So I bought a whole bag of it and ate a piece every day or so. After a week, I wasn’t cringing as much. After two or three weeks I started craving it. By the end of the month, I liked it. I don’t love it,…

When I was young I had a weird cognitive bias where I would think that if something tasted curious or different, that it must be good for you in some way. E.g. the odd taste of licorice. Must mean that it was healthy or good right? Turns out licorice really isn't good for you. https://www.heart.org/en/news/2022/10/28/black-licorice-is-a...

My rule is that if other human beings eat something for pleasure (and not out of desperation, a dare, or to show off), then I should at least try it a few times as long as I don’t have ethical qualms about it.
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