Disliking/Hating Tendency
We ignore virtues of what we dislike and distort facts against them.
Key Principle
Dislike distorts perception—force yourself to find merits in what you hate.
Understanding Disliking/Hating Tendency
The mirror of liking/loving tendency: when we dislike or hate something, we tend to ignore its merits, magnify its faults, and assume the worst about people and ideas associated with it.
This creates intellectual blind spots. Valuable ideas get rejected because they come from a disliked source. Good people get dismissed because of group associations. Potentially profitable investments get ignored because we have a negative gut reaction.
In competitive contexts, this is particularly dangerous. Dismissing a competitor because you dislike them means you'll underestimate their strengths and miss their innovations. The best companies study their competition dispassionately.
Real-World Examples
- Dismissing a competitor's successful strategy because "they got lucky."
- Ignoring good ideas in a meeting because you dislike the person who proposed them.
- Refusing to learn from a company you consider unethical.
- Political partisans dismissing any policy proposal from the opposing party.
How to Apply This
Steel-man arguments from people you disagree with
Force yourself to list three good things about people or ideas you dislike
Study competitors and critics for valid points
Separate the message from the messenger when evaluating ideas
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Assuming everything about a disliked entity is bad
- Missing opportunities because of personal animosity
- Creating enemies out of potential allies
- Letting disgust override rational analysis
Notable Quotes
"I never allow myself to hold an opinion on anything that I don't know the other side's argument better than they do."
— Charlie Munger