Why do most people dislike what they can't understand?

Hey Malcom,

I think you pretty much answered your own question when you said "an almost unrelatable level" - some people simply find it easier to stay with who and what they're familiar with and accustomed to rather than charting into unknown territory. It may not be so much that they dislike certain things or certain people - it may be more a matter of just being uncomfortable.

Like you, I'm a quiet person who's not real big on long conversations or even chit-chat; I enjoy being at home with my husband and our dog and I'm perfectly content with that. People try to talk me into going here and there and getting out more because they think it will make me happy. It's hard for them to understand I'm already happy.

Some people want other people to conform to what's considered "normal" and "acceptable" - they don't realize that's what normal and acceptable to THEM isn't always the same for other people.

You just gotta be you, Malcolm. If you're content with yourself, if you feel at peace with the way you live your life, and you enjoy arthouse films and certain types of performances, don't let anyone try to get you to "come to the other side."

Deb

Two different subjects are touched up here: UNDERSTANDING different people, their cultures their motivations for doing things, the way they interact with others, etc., and then the other is the way people discriminate in their acceptance or non-acceptance of other people's ways, lifestyles, etc.

Obviously, nobody can like or approve of EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE...people choose what they accept or don't accept as they meander through life. But the willingness to UNDERSTAND other people's views and lifestyles is (to me, at least), a true mark of intelligence.