Ever wonder...

[PollyannaMom]

I don't have a good answer. I do think some things must be in our DNA, but others are learned. That seems like a cop out to me though.

Not at all! It is definitely a combination of both. This is a good explanation:

Some combo of nature and nurture I suppose. We may have predispositions and those are either encouraged or discouraged by our experience. Take broccoli, my tastebuds find it sweet while others find it bitter. It might taste good to somebody but they have atrocious memories attached to it, and another might not love the taste but positive nostalgia has them eating seconds.

It is interesting.

In a similar vein I have always wondered how kids raised in the same household can turn out so different in their likes and dislikes.

Different genes, plus hitting different developmental stages at different times in the same family (especially if the financial situation changes).

I also think birth order makes a difference - the parents are the same, but some of the experience is different based on whether you're the oldest, youngest, etc. Plus, kids sometimes purposefully pick different interests to avoid competing (called sibling deidentification).

 

[gmi3804]

They hold less than zero interest to me. I don't get excited about watching someone else play a game, and feel that people dressed in logo gear who go crazy when others score points just look like fools to me. The competition element ("We're better than you are because we've hitched our wagons to some team made up of strangers") is totally lost on me: How is YOUR life any better/worse for someone else's victory/loss? I just don't get any of it.

Touché.

 

[nw6675]

GMI...BFF...play nice (agrees and saunters off...)

 

[TipsyTraveler]

Here ya go:

https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Experiment-Control-Genetic-Testing/dp/B0085GRFSQ

Thank you!!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Agree some come down to exposure but also encouragement and acceptance.

My mom was never a big reader really, my dad somewhat, but both encouraged, accepted and fostered a love of reading in both my sister and I. Seeing my husband's family it's like the opposite--none of them read really for fun, they don't see it as enjoyable. Mother-in-law was an editor, she favors more magazines but they generally are home and garden (I'm not counting the extreme website articles she finds herself on), step-father-in-law sometimes reads but it's more handyman or car stuff and more about how to and father-in-law I've never seen nor heard an expression of enjoying reading. I can count the number of books my husband has read in the 16 years I've known him on both hands meanwhile I'm reading dozens and dozens and dozens per year.

When I first met them they would playfully make comments here and there about me always having a book (and later kindle) on me (though I don't do it nearly as often as I used to) meanwhile that practice was fully embraced over at my family's house (especially with other members of my family doing the same on Thanksgiving or Christmas).

How I stumbled upon reading I think is part my dad telling me stories before I went to bed when I was a kid, seeing my sister read and encouragement in the library system as a young kid, from then on I found what books I liked and went from there.

An interesting new interest I have is kdramas, cdramas and jdramas and I think that's actually due to my old coworker who has a love of all things korean and the more I saw her post on FB about stuff the more I got interested in trying out tv shows and movies although I had already had somewhat of an interest in kpop songs. Now even my husband has joined in on watching some kdramas with me.

 

[cedricandsophie]

My husband and daughter loves nuts of all kinds, chickpeas, anchovies, oysters, avocado, herring, black olives, marsala sauce. And capers, liver, ugh. I can’t stand any of those things. They just taste bad to me.
I love sauerkraut…grew up eating it and love it. He forces himself to eat it once a year when I make a dish I love. I’ll eat any other kind of olive just not black. And I love trying foods as long as they don’t have any of the above things.

 

[Brian Noble]

Do you ever wonder WHY you like the things you like?

I've given it a LOT of thought---even before I started analysis!

For example, I *love* roller coasters. "Higher, further, faster, baby!" I dig the adrenaline rush, intensity, and excitement of it. That's also why I like spicy food.

I don't get "liking" sports teams in general.

For me, this is a big one. I have a big draw to tribal-belonging, and I've known that about myself for a long time. It's one of the reasons I loved playing sports in high school; experiencing that camaraderie was the closest I got to genuine happiness.

Attending a sporting event in person feeds that, but in a different way. There are moments in which every single person in that stadium of 110,000 FEELS SOMETHING all at the same time---and most of them feel the same something. They don't happen every game--not even close, maybe only a handful of those moments each year. But hey buddy when they happen, they are big. This moment was transcendent, and I got to experience that.

I think one of the other reasons sports holds this for me is that it doesn't mean anything real, and the low stakes helps keep it fun. I've never been a Big Patriotism Guy, in part because those are sometimes life-and-death things, and I care about those deaths even when they aren't "my people."

 

[gmi3804]

For me, this is a big one. I have a big draw to tribal-belonging, and I've known that about myself for a long time. It's one of the reasons I loved playing sports in high school; experiencing that camaraderie was the closest I got to genuine happiness.

Attending a sporting event in person feeds that, but in a different way. There are moments in which every single person in that stadium of 110,000 FEELS SOMETHING all at the same time---and most of them feel the same something. They don't happen every game--not even close, maybe only a handful of those moments each year. But hey buddy when they happen, they are big. This moment was transcendent, and I got to experience that.

I think one of the other reasons sports holds this for me is that it doesn't mean anything real, and the low stakes helps keep it fun. I've never been a Big Patriotism Guy, in part because those are sometimes life-and-death things, and I care about those deaths even when they aren't "my people."

Well-reasoned and illuminating, for sure.

On the other hand, how much does this attitude (among others, not you) play into the "patriotism" mindset, where we, as a whole, feel like everything is a contest and that we need to always be on the winning side? That if, say, you love NY pizza and I love Chicago pizza, then one of us clearly and morbidly wrong?

 

[Brian Noble]

For starters those are different species of pizza and therefore incomparable. Plus both are delicious.

But I also think the phenomenon you are talking about is broader than "winning"--it also includes personal validation. It's a short step from "this was the right decision for me" to "this is the right decision for everyone."

For an example, see the incessant "Should I pull my children out of school for Disney" arguments.

 

[gmi3804]

For starters those are different species of pizza and therefore incomparable. Plus both are delicious.

I like all kinds - even pineapple/ham - and only require that they be great representations of their particular variation.

But can the fact that each variation is somewhat unique and particular part of the reason people feel they need to win the argument that "their" variation is the best? I belong to a Chicago Thin Crust Pizza group on FB, and listening to some of those people bash every other kind of pizza out there seriously reminds me of the mentality of sports team allegiances, where no one else's version is even valid.