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

Taste, Judgment, and Snobbery

• Some argue you shouldn’t try to like everything; “cultivating taste” means being able to tell good from bad and disliking much of what you encounter.
• Others counter that “taste” often becomes class signaling or snob Calvinball; it’s fine to like “trash” as long as you can recognize it as such.
• Several note taste changes over time; rediscovering things you once hated (or cringing at old favorites) is common.

Acquired Taste and Changing Preferences

• Many examples of learned liking: tomatoes, spinach, natto, salted licorice, gin and tonic, wine, cilantro, opera, anime, jazz, rap.
• Repeated exposure and context (travel, culture, peers, stories about the thing) often shift aversion into enjoyment or at least tolerance.
• Others report genuine sensory or allergy-like issues (tomatoes, seafood, coffee, alcohol) where repeated exposure doesn’t help and can’t just be “pushed through.”

When Not to Force It

• Several people insist it’s fine—and important—to accept stable dislikes (sports, cooking, karaoke, much TV).
• A recurring theme: don’t mistake the essay for “you can/will like everything”; it’s more “sometimes your first reaction is wrong, so experiment.”
• Some see deliberate trying-to-like as over-socialization or self-betrayal; they prefer intrinsic attraction, not “working” to enjoy something for others’ approval.

Kids, Exposure, and Broadening Horizons

• Techniques for children: storytelling about changing tastes, respecting current preferences while keeping doors open, quick competence boosts, enthusiasm, camps/peer groups, and limiting more-attractive substitutes.
• Parents note on-demand entertainment makes “just try it” harder; background/ambient exposure (music during chores, radio in the car) often works better than making “trying” a high-pressure activity.

Compulsion, Hobbies, and Rabbit Holes

• Some avoid new categories (coffee, aquariums, beer) because they know they’ll obsess, burn time, and escalate gear costs.
• Others report having too many hobbies and feeling stressed, or conversely being unable to fully immerse in anything. ADHD and dopamine dynamics come up repeatedly.

Context, Understanding, and Identity

• Many emphasize that appreciation often follows understanding (architecture, churches, jazz, classical music, country, anime).
• People distinguish between disliking a thing vs. disliking the culture around it (wine snobs, country fans, anime fandom, churches as institutions).
• Travel and deliberate openness are framed as ways to keep mental plasticity, reduce pessimism, and avoid becoming rigidly negative with age.