Think of it as a spectrum. If your range of emotions is limited, it cheapens the meaning of your positive emotions. If instead your feelings can have a wider array of possibility, then it becomes more meaningful to think positively about someone.
Well I'll take it in a different direction and postulate that, were it possible to feel only one specific emotion at an object or person or thing, and the emotion were hate... I dunno.
It's something that has historically been compared to love for good reasons, but seeing how there's a lot of kinds of love, I'm inclined to think there are a great many variations of hatred as well, some harmful to the carrier, some not.
I would have to agree with that, though I think the various types of hatred would likely be more easily described as loathing, dislike, etc.
I wonder though, could you think of hatred as a "pure" emotion, with each of those simply being a step along the lines of hatred? The further you go down the line, the more harmful?
Hate as a pure emotion is the desire for the nonexistence of the object of hatred. Its not just dislike, its "I want it dead and gone." Its pretty easy to see how that can be unhealthy for the hater.
I particularly like Geoff's t-shirt that reads "wHATEver", suggesting indifference as a form of hatered. For if you make someone not exist in your mind as with indifference, it amounts to the same intention.
Dislike, in contrast, is "this thing brings me pain." It may or may not lead to a response of Hate "destroy it!" and more likely may lead to Loathing which is "get it away / get me away from it" as avoidance.
I compare it to jealousy. Both hatred and jealousy are normal human emotions and should probably be experienced by everyone, but really focusing on either for prolonged periods of time is detrimental to your character and/or emotional health.
Absolutely, though I think that the same could be said for love. If you focus on it for a prolonged period of time, it can take away from the rest of you.
Hatred has its place on the emotional spectrum. I also think there is a spectrum within hatred itself, much as there is a spectrum within fear, love, joy, etc.
Intense, prolonged, exposure to any one feeling (or even multiple feelings) is liable to warp anyone's personality eventually; just look at mental illness. Most people are only built to withstand intense emotions for brief periods of time. Therefore, while hatred can be detrimental to the hater, it is no more so than dwelling on any other feeling.
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Think of it as a spectrum. If your range of emotions is limited, it cheapens the meaning of your positive emotions. If instead your feelings can have a wider array of possibility, then it becomes more meaningful to think positively about someone.
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It's something that has historically been compared to love for good reasons, but seeing how there's a lot of kinds of love, I'm inclined to think there are a great many variations of hatred as well, some harmful to the carrier, some not.
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I wonder though, could you think of hatred as a "pure" emotion, with each of those simply being a step along the lines of hatred? The further you go down the line, the more harmful?
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I particularly like Geoff's t-shirt that reads "wHATEver", suggesting indifference as a form of hatered. For if you make someone not exist in your mind as with indifference, it amounts to the same intention.
Dislike, in contrast, is "this thing brings me pain." It may or may not lead to a response of Hate "destroy it!" and more likely may lead to Loathing which is "get it away / get me away from it" as avoidance.
Yea, I've given this some thought before :)
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The genius of New Order: "And it may all be too late, but I've no passion for this hate."
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Intense, prolonged, exposure to any one feeling (or even multiple feelings) is liable to warp anyone's personality eventually; just look at mental illness. Most people are only built to withstand intense emotions for brief periods of time. Therefore, while hatred can be detrimental to the hater, it is no more so than dwelling on any other feeling.
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