You can try to like stuff

Summary

Here’s one possible hobby: Take something you don’t like. Try to like it. It could be food or music or people or just the general situation you’re in. I recommend this hobby, partly because it’s nice to enjoy things, but mostly as an instrument for probing human nature. 1. I was in Paris once. By coincidence, I wandered past a bunch of places that were playing Michael Jackson. I thought to myself, “Huh. The French sure do love Michael Jackson.” Gradually I decided, “You know what? They’re right! Michael Jackson is good.” Later, I saw a guy driving around blasting Billy Jean while hanging a hand outside his car with a sparkly white Michael Jackson glove. Again, I thought, “Huh.” That day was June 25, 2009. 2. I don’t like cooked spinach. But if I eat some and try to forget that I hate it, it seems OK. Why? Well, as a child, I was subjected to some misguided spinach-related parental interventions. (“You cannot leave this table until you’ve finished this extremely small portion”, etc.) I hated this, but looking back, it wasn’t the innate qualities of spinach the bothered me, so much as that being forced to put something inside my body felt like a violation of my autonomy. When I encountered spinach as an adult, instead of tasting a vegetable, I tasted a grueling battle of will. Spinach was dangerous—if I liked it, that would teach my parents that they were right to control my diet. So I tried telling myself little stories: I’m hiking in the mountains in Japan when suddenly the temperature drops, and it starts pouring rain. Freezing and desperate, I spot a monastery and knock on the door. The monks warm me up and offer me hōrensō no ohitashi, made from some exotic vegetable I’ve never seen before. Presumably, I’d think it was amazing. I can’t fully access that mind-space. But just knowing it exists seems to make a big difference. Using similar techniques, I’ve successfully made myself like (or less dislike) white wine, Ezra Klein, disco, yoga, non-spicy food, Pearl Jam,...