So a year ago I was talking to someone and I was saying that I hated something that had to do with computers. (I can't put my finger on what it was.. will just say MS for the moment) And the first thing he said was, "To hate something, you have to love it first". He apparently overheard some girl say that, but that did not make any sense to me...

Definition: Hate or hatred is an emotion of intense revulsion, distaste, enmity, or antipathy for a person, thing, or phenomenon; a desire to avoid, restrict, remove, or destroy its object. The emotion is often stigmatized; yet it serves an important purpose, as does love. Just as love signals attachment, hatred signals detachment.

I don't believe you have to love something before you hate it. I would see it as, if something doesn't make sense to you, or you think that it is totaly wrong (racism for one? Please note don't turn this thread into a racism thread, not on topic), then I could hate it. What are your thoughts?

The opposite of love is indifference.

You don't have to love something to hate it, you just need to "care" about it enough to expend what amounts to the same level of emotional investment.

So, is the opposite of "hate" is also "indifference?" If not, what is it?

If so, then, logically, "love" and "hate" are the same, eh?

I suspect that there is, rather, a continuum of "feeling" with "indifference" towards the middle.

Of course, that's assuming the "emotional landscape" you're using is a simple straight line, which is, really, quite unlikely. I suspect the topology of emotion is actually multidimensional and nonlinear. In which case, "opposite" is a meaningless concept without a lot more definition and explanation.

Yes, and I alluded to the equal emotional investment required by both love and hate.

I do not see a linear relationship, rather love and hate are the top of two emotional mountains with indifference laying in the valley between. To reach the top of either peak, be it love or hate, takes investment of time and energy. Indifference takes no effort at all. "Opposite" was perhaps too linear, but I think the term still applies if not taken literally.

Awesome description! I like it

You may be interested in Leo Buscaglia

Love is putting the well being of another (or others) ahead of your own well being. Love is selflessness. The opposite, therefore, is selfishness: putting your own needs/desires/wants above everyone elses.

"Just as love signals attachment, hatred signals detachment."

hatred is a form of attachment too.

I have the strong feeling that the opposite of feeling is not feeling.

feelings for/of * only occured when they are strange things(living or dead) ... i mean ... strange enough ...


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In Hindu religion/mythology, as far as I understand it both love and hate can be seen equally as a form of worship. Because in order to hate something you have to spend a large amount of emotional effort and time on it.

In one story the goddess Kalika is stalked and attacked by a demon, she fights the demon killing him, then revives him to be her servant/devotee with the following reasoning: This demon stalked her and expended every ounce of his strength and energy focused on her (much like a lover), because he spent all the energy on her he was devoted to her and this can be seen as a form of worship.

So from that we can deduce that as is suggested above, apathy and lack of feeling are the opposite(?) to love/hate.