"Hate" is a strong word.

There's not many things I hate.

There are, however, several things I dislike. And several people, organizations, or thought processes that I dislike.

Unfortunately, simply being unlikeable does not also make you incompetent. And there are several instances where the people, organizations, or though process I dislike ALSO have valuable information or insight that I can use.

So here's how I learn from them.

First - Identify the positive aspects of the "thing" you're looking to learn better.  

You should be extremely clear on why you want to learn more about the "thing", because being vague about this means you have to spend more time learning in order to gain value.

Here's an example:

If I want to "learn to play guitar", that's WAY harder than "Learn to play the riff from 'Smoke On The Water'"

Specificity and awareness of the "things" you're trying to gain are important. Especially when you have to endure a situation you dislike.

Second - Separate the whole person/org/thought schema from the thing you need.

I'll give an explicit example.

I'm not a strict utilitarian, and there are modern philosophers like Peter Singer who are hardcore utilitarian. I disagree with the extremes Singer goes to with his prescriptive ethics.

However, I got great value from his book The Most Good You Can Do because he introduced a theory of "effective altruism." In a nutshell, it's about donating your time and money to charities or organizations that provide actual relief of suffering for people and animals. Seems obvious? Not really. There's an algorithm for discovering whether a charity or activity actually provides relief. Most don't.

I can gain value from that insight without becoming a Singer fanboy. Or even liking all his ideas.

Third - Use your dislike (or hate) as a factor for self-discovery.  

There's a value to sitting back and truly thinking about what it is that you dislike about it.

Going back to the Singer example, I disliked how his philosophies ignored reality. His prescriptive ethics ignored the nuance of life on earth with other people. Same reason I dislike Kant's philosophy. Same reason one of my newer discoveries, Nassim Taleb, rubs me the wrong way.

Whenever you feel a strong emotion, there's information there. Whenever you feel no emotion, there's information there.

Be curious, not caustic.

-Resheske

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