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270 points surprisetalk | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.202s | source
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palata ◴[] No.45103127[source]
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 it has been very popular and so they've already heard it countless times (in night clubs, on the radio, ...). Most people who dislike a whole music genre generally don't really understand it and haven't put any effort into it.

You don't like churches? Go to Notre-Dame in Paris, and have someone explain to you its architecture. How they built it, how you can date the parts of the church just from its architecture.

Don't get me wrong: it's possible to dislike stuff, and it's alright. But it's worth trying to understand before disliking.

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layer8 ◴[] No.45103330[source]
Counterpoint, understanding alone isn't enough either if you don't have an affinity.

There's a few classical and jazz pieces that I like, but that doesn’t mean that I like classical music and/or jazz, even though I do get why other people do.

Same for your church architecture example. I can appreciate it on an intellectual level, but in the end I still find it mostly boring and not my kind of aesthetics.

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1. palata ◴[] No.45103631[source]
> Counterpoint, understanding alone isn't enough either if you don't have an affinity.

It's not a counterpoint, as I never said that understanding something meant that you would like it.

I just said that it's worth trying to understand before concluding that we dislike something.