Unliking is a process similar to all other things, just one more replica of the pattern of life. Many things can bring on unliking.

Maturation can catalyze the process. Years ago, I loved corn dogs. I would eat two of them for a snack every single day. Through no fault of my own, today my stomach turns at the mere mention of the food. There was no sudden change, no realization that it was bad. Time passed and my favorite food as a kid is not something that I would eat today. In the same vein, it is not unusual for shows like Barney and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood to be very appealing to young children but very irritating to adults.

Negative Reaction can also be a cause of the process of unliking. It can be drawn out over years or it could be suddenly. Getting sick after drinking Dr Pepper at age 9 ruined the soft drink for me forever. The woman that grows to resent an abusive husband is also a negative reaction unliker. Same thing goes for someone who gives up drinking because of what it makes him do, but in that case, it is not the alcohol he is learning not to like, it is the result of such that leads to the change in behavior.

Persuasion is a very subtle cause of the process. It can be very dangerous, especially to small children. This is how prejudice propagates itself. If one is told from day one that all (insert group here) are bad, he will learn to hate (said group). This is also the tactic of the people that believe homosexuality can be cured. They try to change an inherent characteristic by teaching dislike of the lifestyle. Also a very successful method in political mudslinging campaigns.

Apathy is closely related to unliking, except that the result of the process is not dislike, but rather, just a lack of pleasure over something. Losing touch is a prime example of unlike through apathy. How many people have written in your high school yearbook "I will never forget you" but now you cannot even put the face to the name? Getting over a crush can also be apathetic unlike, if it is not through negative reaction. One day, you think that so-and-so is the most intriguing, amazing person in the whole world, and that you could never meet anyone as perfect. Time goes by and one day you realize that you feel nothing anymore for him. Confusion abounds but it is just something you will have to shrug off as one of those things.



So this is why you don't love me anymore.

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