‘What things are liked/disliked because people are so used to hearing they should like/dislike them?’ – 23 ways we blindly follow the herd

We all love to think we are the most special and unique being that ever blessed this planet with our presence but, sadly, the opposite is true. We’re identikit human units who blindly fall into step with everyone else.

They’ve been discussing our propensity for running with the pack on the AskUK subreddit after knight-under-stars asked this:

What things are you convinced are largely liked/disliked because people are so used to hearing they should like/dislike them? An example of this from me is the word ‘moist’. Years back this word went from being completely innocuous to suddenly seemingly everyone retching at the mere sound of it.

Other examples of things I’m convinced fall under this phenomena are Crocs and Coldplay. On the other side I am convinced that the near unanimous popularity of the Cornetto Trilogy is an example of this in a positive sense.

And lots of people with thoughts about jumping on the bandwagon chimed in with their own examples…

1.

‘James Corden. Come on, how much of an arse can one man really be? People speak as if he’s Narcissus incarnate.’
–Adm_Shelby2

2.

‘Rare steak….. sucks. Rare beef generally. Why would I want a cold wet floppy middle?? And blood pissing into the delightful sauces that often accompany a restaurant steak?

Cook the meat through, season well, delicious.’
–EngineeredGal

3.

‘Olives. I’ll never believe anyone truly enjoys those little suckers.’
–crankycow80

4.

‘Beer/lager. It’s like a savoury drink. Not good.’
–ladybigsuze

5.

‘Cadbury’s chocolate. Tastes no different.’
–Puzzled-Job9556

6.

‘Dan Brown. His novels are page turners but people think they’re meant to hate them.’
–shanodindryad

7.

‘I’ve been wearing Crocs regularly for 20 years. Every person I’ve met who dislikes them bases their judgement on the jelly shoes they had when they were five that were hard, sweaty, chafey and fell off, and has never actually touched a pair of Crocs.’
–Vegebarian

8.

‘Jamie Oliver. Literally just tried to help people not get sick and die young.’
–Kaiisim

9.

‘Metal. People think it is all screaming and devil worship but metal is so much more varied than that.’
–pajamakitten

10.

‘Honestly, polyamory? Don’t get me wrong, I think people should absolutely be monogamous if that’s what they’re happy with, but I feel like because people occasionally meet polyamorous people who are annoying (who would probably be annoying if they were in a traditional relationship too, let’s be honest) people kinda got carried away with the memes.

Kinda lumped together with ‘annoying vegans who make their cats vegan’ in terms of dumb vitriol, even though I don’t think it’s comparable. But if you’re not engaging in polyamory, it shouldn’t upset you or piss you off that some people do.’
–Faye-Lockwood

11.

‘I’d say Starbucks and Costa. Everyone shits on them but they’re nowhere near as terrible as people make out. Being pretentious about coffee does make sure people feel better though I suppose so just let them crack on.’
–madeonworkstime

12.

‘It’s died down a bit in recent years, or at least I haven’t seen it at as much, but the worship of bacon as being the best food ever. I mean, it’s just bacon. I like bacon. It’s not the best, most amazing thing ever though.’
–DrH1983