Why do we Need Reasons for Liking Things?

[tsmith15]

The Background:

At my movie theatre, before every movie they play a 10-15 minute thing talking about celebrity birthdays, upcoming movies, whats currently playing, etc. and in the last couple months they've done segments where they asked fans at some cinema in Toronto a question and taped the answers.

The Question:

"If you could have a wish, what would it be and why?" was posed to children, mostly around 10 years old or younger.

The Answers:

Most of the answers were like this, "I wish I had two puppies, because I like puppies," or "I wish I could meet Hannah Montana, because I really like her," and, hilariously, a 6-7 year old said "I want to marry Zac Efron, because I like him."

The Philosophical Issue:

Notice how the children more often than not listed their reason as "because I like it." Which got me thinking, isn't the simplicity of childhood often overlooked once we become more capable of complex reasoning and thought? Isn't there an inherent beauty to not rationalizing the irrational? If you are in love, why do you need to explain why? If you like Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream, why do you need to explain why? If you think The Island is the best movie you've ever seen, etc.

I buy into the philosophy that not everything needs to be explained. I can't make a completely solid case about why I greatly liked Transformers 2 nor can I make a solid case for why I liked it more than the first. I can't tell you why I liked Benjamin Button and not Slumdog Millionaire. And I can't tell you why I love Subway enough to eat it five days a week and never get sick of it. But I don't care.

Discuss.

[dolson]

I like this thread, because I like it.

[sugarsickness]

It's like I always say. If you give a kid a crayon he will draw whatever he wants without hesitation or fear.

If you give an adult a crayon he will eat it, shit it out, and then try and sell it to the kid for twice the price.


Or something.

[trunolimit]

I can't tell you why I liked Benjamin Button and not Slumdog Millionaire. And I can't tell you why I love Subway enough to eat it five days a week and never get sick of it. But I don't care.
Discuss.

um because your crazy and subway is awesomeness in sandwich form.

I like this thread, because I like it.

brilliant

[az0madman]

Well, people are free to like what they like, but then there's nothing left to discuss is there?

[satori]

I believe it is important to understand why someone likes something for a couple of reasons.

1. if you have no idea about this thing that someone likes and like their description of why they like it you can classify whether you may like it or not based on the criteria of why they like it.

2. You can, after a few such answers and with the experience of your own in knowing about the thing which they like, decide whether or not you have over all similar tastes. You may in fact be compatible with that person and like their taste. You may wish to know more about what that person likes because you feel that you may like it as well... or you might simply want to suck face with them.

3. you may know the thing that they are talking about and not have seen that thing in the light in which they are discussing it. If they offer a compelling enough reason they may convince you to go and look at that thing again with a new perspective and then enjoy that thing.


Personally speaking I do like the simplicity of the child's mind concept. But lets understand that a child's mind tends to be uncluttered because it lacks depth. Children's brains are simply wired differently. This can be both a good thing and a good thing... it's all good and it's all different, that is all.

[tsmith15]

Yeah, naturally this kind of thing doesn't apply to everything, considering it's essentially the opposite of curiosity, a staple of human civilization.

Sometimes though when you overthink something good, you can ruin it for yourself. Like when you don't notice something about someone and then you realize it while thinking about them and then it ruins a relationship.

[Jay_Ray]

We need reasons because when someone posses an opposing view we need to justify our belief because if we can not the opposition becomes right while you are wrong. And people hate feeling that they are wrong.

Kids don't have this problem for one major reason, they have yet to be trained to fear being wrong. Adults are punished severely for being wrong, whether its losing a job/financial stability, losing a chance at university, or many other punishments. But for children if they are wrong they can float to the next idea with little to no change at all.

[joeyrock]

I buy into the philosophy that not everything needs to be explained. I can't make a completely solid case about why I greatly liked Transformers 2 nor can I make a solid case for why I liked it more than the first. I can't tell you why I liked Benjamin Button and not Slumdog Millionaire. And I can't tell you why I love Subway enough to eat it five days a week and never get sick of it. But I don't care.



The opposing view is that you can't explain why you like Transformers 2 because there's no rational reason to like it, just as the kids can't go into why they like Hannah Montana. It probably comes down she looks pretty (children naturally like pretty the same as the rest of us) and they are subjected to seeing her face for several hours a day.

The subway thing is simple, it's food and it tastes good and you are an animal with a predisposition to crave that combination of matter... which is why it tastes good. The circle of subway.

Also, you end with "but I don't care". Why state that you don't care if you didn't actually care? It wouldn't pop to mind unless it was swimming around in there. So you do know that you shouldn't like those films/food as much as you do... in which case the meaning behind the lack of a reason, or justification, for liking those things starts to reveal itself. You are a self hating film snob in deep denial my friend :p


Sometimes though when you overthink something good, you can ruin it for yourself. Like when you don't notice something about someone and then you realize it while thinking about them and then it ruins a relationship.

But, to clear things up, you get the irony of over explaining/discussing people who don't over complicate things? Because I can't continue with this thread otherwise :p

[gm_wil]

*Shrug*

I think it's because everyone is so god damned afraid of being themselves and how they are judged by others, they come up with reasons to validate why they like something as a defensive measure . . . which, thankfully, slowly slips away with age.

-

[dh_jin]

i thing the real issue isn't why we like things its more about trying to share the feeling of like things with other people

[trunolimit]

don't ask why...ask how.....woooosaaaa

[satori]

i thing the real issue isn't why we like things its more about trying to share the feeling of like things with other people

your post has been forwarded to Apple. Apple will be contacting you re your misuse of the registered term "iThing". That is all.

[darknessgp]

We need reasons because when someone posses an opposing view we need to justify our belief because if we can not the opposition becomes right while you are wrong. And people hate feeling that they are wrong.

Kids don't have this problem for one major reason, they have yet to be trained to fear being wrong. Adults are punished severely for being wrong, whether its losing a job/financial stability, losing a chance at university, or many other punishments. But for children if they are wrong they can float to the next idea with little to no change at all.

I wouldn't say it's about being "wrong" but more about fitting in. People will provide their reasoning without some presenting an opposing viewpoint to justify their own choice and thereby feeling they are accepted by someone else when the other person can see the logic of the choice, even if there is no real logic, like love.

[cryptic]

An adult should be able to articulate why they like or dislike something. Even when it is love, there are aspects that can be pointed out.

For example, I will state my issue with Transformers. As a kid, I thought the show was decent. Never a favorite by any stretch of the imagination, but it was cool. As time goes on, tastes mature. So when the first movie was released, this 80s kid really would have appreciated a stronger story. It didn't have to be Shakespeare, but there is fine line between suspension of belief and insult to intelligence. Overall, I was disappointed that the movie could have been so much better with more attention to the writing. I like SFX like the next person, but why does SFX and good writing have to be mutually exclusive? I can't comment yet on Transformers2, since it automatically is a rental based on my impression of the first movie.

With that in mind, when weak-story SFX-packed movies are hailed as awesome, one has to ask What the hell is so awesome about it? We all have guilty pleasures. It just seems increasingly that people are living out the scenario from the movie Idiocracy. Sometimes, we just expect more from our contemporaries.