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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

#51

Post by Etheryte »

nilstycho wrote: post #7
aklemm wrote: post #4

Yes! This is underrated and something I work on with my kids, because it really is a pillar of good living. For me it's been everything from many foods, to basketball, to hiking, to art museums, and maybe someday I'll even tolerate musicals.

Do you have any tips for how to work on this with kids?

Camps, hobbies and other such activities where they see others their age do things and have a good time. As a parent, you're not necessarily the coolest thing in the world. However their friends and peers with varied backgrounds can fill that role. I used to do youth work when I was younger and some of the biggest leaps of personality happened in groups with very mixed backgrounds. Poor kids, rich kids, sporty, dorky, introverts, extroverts and everything in between, in the right environment they'll rub off on one another in all the best ways.

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

#52

Post by PaulKeeble »

zwnow wrote: post #10

Listen, I am 30 now. Not too old, still missing plenty of experiences in life. But I know what stuff I do not like, and I won't force myself to try and like them. I hate sports, I tried liking it, did not work out (heh pun intended). I hate cooking, I try it every other day, I will never like it. Its okay not to like things.

In order to be sure you don't like something you have to try it a number of times before you can sure you dislike it. But its also important to assess what you dislike about it to ensure its not peer/societal pressure based or other potential assaults on the self rather than core to you.

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

#54

Post by donatj »

I had something of a semi-intentional palate reset in my early twenties.

I had been a super picky eater basically my entire life, and getting me to try new foods was like pulling teeth. Then I spent a couple weeks traveling around Japan with some friends. I think it was in part genuinely wanting to immerse myself in the culture and in part not wanting to make myself appear fussy or annoying to a girl we were traveling with, but I forced myself to try things I would never have eaten state side. I found myself by the end of the trip actually pushing myself to try things... Even perhaps a little too far as the Takoyaki triggered my shellfish allergy. Nothing a bunch of Benadryl couldn't solve.

I'd come to Japan a picky eater though and left an adventurous one. I will at least try just about anything once.

This is something which twenty years later my parents still don't accept. "Oh, I thought you didn't eat salad" when I am halfway through my salad.

Mind you there are still things I did not like before that I still do not like. Ketchup tops the list.

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

#55

Post by Raztuf »

palata wrote: post #30

Many things need to be understood to be appreciated. For instance music: we tend to like what we know, and what we know is what we hear on the radio/everywhere we go. When people tell me they don't like jazz, I always find a jazz song they like. If they say they don't like rap music, I can always find one they like. Why? Maybe because it's closer to what they already understand (making it more accessible), or maybe i…

>Most people who dislike a whole music genre generally don't really understand it and haven't put any effort into it.

I still can't get my family to get into noise and pigfuck, any advice ?

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

#56

Post by nathan_douglas »

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…

As I creak and grunt into my mid-forties, I find a major concern of mine is my mind growing stale and stiff like an old slice of bread, and a good random deep dive into cheesemaking or the different uses of tofu in traditional Chinese cooking might help stave that off. Or it might just make me boring in a different way, IDK.

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

#57

Post by [deleted] »

donatj wrote: post #54

I had something of a semi-intentional palate reset in my early twenties. I had been a super picky eater basically my entire life, and getting me to try new foods was like pulling teeth. Then I spent a couple weeks traveling around Japan with some friends. I think it was in part genuinely wanting to immerse myself in the culture and in part not wanting to make myself appear fussy or annoying to a girl we were travelin…

[deleted]

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

#58

Post by captaincrisp »

zwnow wrote: post #10

Listen, I am 30 now. Not too old, still missing plenty of experiences in life. But I know what stuff I do not like, and I won't force myself to try and like them. I hate sports, I tried liking it, did not work out (heh pun intended). I hate cooking, I try it every other day, I will never like it. Its okay not to like things.

100%. I think the article makes space for this, too. In 3, 4, and 5 the author describes the experience of bouncing off of something despite trying to like it as well as _thinking_ you like something despite not _really_ liking it. Both types of experiences resonated with me.

I think the key here is that you did try, you gave cooking and sports an honest chance, and it turns out that you're not into them. It doesn't feel like many people would put the effort in to really figure out if they _would_ like something that's initially uncomfortable or difficult. I think that's what the article is responding to - I read the overall thesis as "you might actually end up liking something that you don't like initially" rather than "you will like anything given enough effort".

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

#59

Post by coldpie »

zwnow wrote: post #21
kingkawn wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are you an old curmudgeon at 30

Long time depression, father dead at 15, half of family dead since, possibly adhd, moved places like 8 times, poor (thankfully no debt), balding, never had a relationship, constant anger due to the stupidity of other people (when reading comments on news articles as an example), and and and...

> constant anger due to the stupidity of other people (when reading comments on news articles as an example)

Holy cow dude, cut this one right the fuck out. Absolutely eliminate that portion of your day. Cold turkey straight to zero. Right now. Reading Internet comments that make you angry is like choosing to stick your face in the exhaust of a diesel truck. There's no reason to do it. Just don't.

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

#60

Post by esafak »

williamdclt wrote: post #14
esafak wrote: post #2

Or don't, and cultivate taste, which is about having a rationale for separating the good from the bad -- and disliking stuff. It might not make you popular at parties though.

I think that's orthogonal. The author is not saying that everything in every field is good: their TV example explicitly calls out bad TV. What they are saying is that you can make yourself enjoy a field _at all_, in which you can then apply taste. For example I don't like whisky, but that's not a matter of me applying "good taste": I would never claim that whisky is bad in general and if I really tried I'm pretty sur…

Absolutely! One can also recognize the good and the bad in a field that one dislikes, judged by its own criteria.
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