The Fine Line Between Love and Hate

     Obviously, everyone has different tastes.  If not, Baskin Robbins wouldn’t make 31 flavors.  Yet it never fails to amaze me when friends and family are so passionately opposed to a book or movie that I loved.  Or vice-versa. 

     I read an interesting article about the biology behind love and hate.  Scientists studied brain scans to compare and contrast the neurological responses to love and hate.  Surprisingly, both emotions activated similar regions of the brain.  Physically, we even experience the same symptoms: increased heart rate, sweaty palms and dilated pupils.  So, apparently, love and hate go hand in hand.  Contrary to what most people think, love and hate are not opposite sides of the same coin.  I suppose I could extrapolate that if someone vehemently hates something that I greatly enjoy, they are closer to my point of view than they realize.  It is not the exact opposite, not matter how much they argue.  In fact, the more passionately they respond, the more the brain patterns match.  I guess Elie Wiesel was right after all…“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.