accounting_for_tastes andru235 is it still ok to just plain old like or not like something? or have we entered an age where preferences of any sort are prefered to be clothed in an external rationale, dressed to suit an unspecified audience? can't we just say, "i like narthexes" or "i don't like [some random aspect] about funopolis" ? is it really an improvement to cloak ones distastes in vague arguments, such as "narthexes are superior, per the kangaroo theory" or "funopolis has a horrendous bar scene - it needs new city planners" ? why not just say, "i like narthexes more than i like towers" or "funopolis doesn't have enough taverns for my tastes", if even that? i'll put myself on the line - i'm a gay guy; if you don't like gay guys, you don't like gay guys. that's fine. i dread the day where someone says you *have to* like gay guys - shoot me before then, please. what seems rather childish is saying "gay guys are [insert derision] because of [insert 'reason']" when one would readily overlook the very same thing if one's disposition was that of liking. however, mainly i'm speaking of matters much more trivial than this... it's perfectly fine to like/not like something, and it's perfectly fine to mask this behind externalities, but are these indices of confidence? especially given that so little is gained by the expression of distaste (excusing the rarest of occasions). if i dislike your philosophy, and i am really at that much of a loss to resist assailing you for it, i can say "i don't like your philosophy" or "you need to start reading some sartre, you philosophical nightmare!" both basically say the same thing, that the target's philosophy is not agreed with. however, whereas the former is merely the expression of one's feelings, the latter is robed in pretension - that is, the latter presents itself as if i possess a higher or more meritous preference, when this is antithetical to what preference is. the same message comes through either way: so-and-so likes/dislikes the status of whatever. that's fine; one can't change what one genuinely likes/dislikes. but hiding this behind other reasons always seems to be a timidity of sorts. sure, i do it sometimes too - as of now, however, i will begin an ultimately unsuccessful process of training myself out of the habit. :D basically, who cares. there is no accounting for one's taste in expressing one's tastes, either. and no one is really going to do anything different now that i have become the 500 millionth person to observe this phenomenon. but we shouldn't be afraid to simply express our tastes for what they are. is nudity now even considered a vulgarity in the realm of expressing one's preferences?!? 051015 what's it to you? who go blather from