Why we hate what we hate
My second year in grad school one of my cohorts had a serious difference of opinion with a professor. This went way beyond apathy, or frustration, or even surliness, all the way to outward negative creativity. The apex (or rather, the nadir) was a parody of “Master of the House” from Les Misèrables in which my fellow student expressed her frustration with the professor.
“Life is too short,” we say, “for such negative feelings.” That time and energy could be put toward something constructive. There’s a good place for anger, the soul that gets things accomplished, when fighting for justice in the world: but that’s really just another way to be constructive. But when it really is a difference of taste, personality, or opinion, a pet peeve that has started to piss on the carpet? You can always find another person who is wrong enough to waste your time on them.
