What do you think...

Write down the first thought that comes to your head after reading the following sentence...

The opposite of love is not hate...It is indifference.

"I always say that love and hate are the same emotion, manifested in different ways."

AND I agree too 😛 ... it wasn't my first thought but it makes sense to me... after reading that initial quote, nothing came to mind... I think I was a little panicked to get a thought so I didn't lol

🙂

Good point gttommy. Where there is great love, it can swing into another emotion equally as forecful but with malice and ill will, say if a relationship breaks up for example. But love and hate are still at opposite ends of the this particular guage and Indifference is in the middle where there is are literally no feelings good or bad on the matter in question.

The opposite of love is hate, and indifference is inevitably more hurtful.

At least if someone hates you that means they, at some point, had expectations of you. Indifference is probably the most hurtful thing that one can inflict on another.
Of course I'm speaking of standing relationships between people. Indifference to a stranger on the street is clearly better than hate.

Ahhhh I love my brain, and how jittery it performs! Sorry about the verbal vomit!

Or the in between?

"First thought: Wrong.

So you're sayin that love/hate is the opposite of indifference because love/hate is an emotion and indifference is a lack of emotion? By that logic, the opposite of fear/confidence, happiness/sadness, cheerfulness/depression, any emotion... is indifference too?"

I agree.

At the same manner you could say that the opposite of water is not land, but "void"...etc.
It's silly.

*im

*IN

God damnit

to hate someone means that you still have some vested interest....indifference means that you con't care at all...I think hate is the midpoint between love and indifference.

Oooh...these are the DXP debates I like!

I got this from a dating letter thingy I get everyday from "Mimi Tanner" and I just wanted to know what everyone else thought about it.

Personally I don't know because IS indifference and emotion? When you love a person...you think about them...you have feelings for them...when you hate a person...the same is true. But indifference? You feel nothing at all, you don't care. So can it even be put in the same category?

INDIFFERENCE
n 1: unbiased impartial unconcern 2: apathy demonstrated by an absence of emotional reactions

LOVE
A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.

Sexual passion.
Sexual intercourse.
A love affair.
An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.
A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved. Often used as a term of endearment.

HATE
To feel hostility or animosity toward.
To detest.
To feel dislike or distaste for:

Now armed with these definitions taken from dictionary.com...if love is the most intense expression of emotion and indifference is the complete lack of emotion...I would have to agree with cancerLA (Obviously a genius because we share almost the same name 😉 )

Any other opinions—

OK...maybe love is not the most intense expression because hate can be PRETTY intense. Maybe the most intense positive expression, and hate is the most intense negative expression of emotion.

Na I disagree because although love and hate are both sentiments loaded with stong passions, they are passions of very opposite motivations. A good analogy to illustrate it is that of the number line where the numbers on the positive of + side are feelings of love and attraction and anything in the negative o - side are feelings of enmity and hate. The 0 which registers feeling neither way would correlate to Indifference.

Well there are just so many ways to flip this one depending on the angle you want to take.

Consider this....in dealing with someone that you've loved in the past, when you go to "hurt" them by being "indifferent".......are you REALLY indifferent? Or just pretending to be in order to save face and prevent yourself from being hurt by separating yourself emotionally (or pretending to)?

One could say that it is virtually impossible to be TRULY "indifferent" to someone that you are cared about....because once you enter the realm of feeling it never truly goes away but only mutates and changes forms (like matter or energy). With this line of thinking, TRUE indifference couldn't possibly be the opposite of hate because the two cannot exist in the same realm. Its like the Garden of Eden motif....once you know, you KNOW. You can't go back.....can opposites really exist in such a fashion? I don't think they can.

Maybe instead of indifference the real opposite of love is coldness.....its within the realm of feeling but you've denied all feelings due to a lack of love...a complete lack (or as close as you can force yourself into). Plus like someone said above indifference can be to a complete stranger..and have nothing to do with being on the opposite end of the spectrum from loving them. So it can't be the opposite of love because its definition doesn't fit all cases....I think coldness is a much better definition....but lets not confuse the two...coldness is not devoid of emotion....its the supression of it.

Just a thought to ponder.

I can say the more ignornat you are, the more you WILL fall in love.

i disagree...when u love someone ur Neither ignorant nor are you blind....Infact u can see more but ur willing to see less coz u dont want to magnify ur lover's weaknesses coz u know (s)hes not perfect....

just like that saying goes 'Love is not blind - it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.'... i totally agree with that 🙂

gttommy, no matter how someone handles things different from other people, it doesn't really alter any of the possible definitions that anyone has given...and stating that people handle things different is obvious; plus it doesn't really answer the question.

I'm clueless. Is that indifference too.lol. Love has emotion, but not too clear with indifference explain a scenario. If you say opposite meaning a difference or opposing then i still think indifference can still bring about emotion.

I agree.

I can't feel hate without feeling love at the same time. Platonic or romantic- I don't feel an emotion as strong as "hate" unless I've been injured *because* of the "love" felt.

When that love is gone- so is the hate...and nothing is left *but* indifference. A lack of emotion- no opinion of the person/situation at all.

2 sharks swimming in opposite directions:

I've discovered this stuff called Bruschetta I've been eating it on buttered garlic bread I'm in love with it. I'm hooked ,I'm obsessed, someone help me put down the Bruschetta.

On a lighter note(sic) I have loved many times and many women there are other loves in my life but I guess we're talking romantic love here. I have never been IN love. It has eluded me,I'm at an age now where I would love to really love someone,I don't know how it feels. I past the point of anxiety about it a long time ago. Also past the point of fear I would imagine that there have been many people who have come and gone on this earth never having really been in love. Ooooooooooooh who am I kidding I don't want to be one of them. I've tried to fake it but my piscean sensitivity is just to raw if I don't feel it,I don't feel it. Maybe my soulmate could help me wherever she is,but where is she? Who is she? I'm F'd up on this account I'm in a romantic indifference purgatory. The sharks put all their passion into work,they have to be careful to stay away from the nets of corruption. Not even chasing beautiful feet right now.Just coming home and sinking to the bottom of the ocean not even Sponge Bob and his gang of lunatics can make me feel better when he knocks I don't let them in.

gttommy...

I am not trying to convince anyone of anything. I just read this on an email and I wanted to to see what other people thought. You don't have to be a sarcastic jerk...Noone else was.

Thanks everyone else for the lively discussion...

tanya- the only time I've ever truly hated someone, it was because they took advantage of or abused the love I gave them. So, to me- from my experience- I can't "hate" without the "love"...when I work through it, and the love is gone, and the hate is gone...i'm left with indifference. But- it seems I'm the extreme minority in believing this way!

*my* love was unconditional..his wasn't 🙂

2 sharks swimming in opposite directions:

I wasn't trying to be a sarcastic jerk(i could be but it doesn't interest me)I was just stating that I've never really been in love and I'd like to experience it. Don't be so touuuuuchy! every thing will work out with him .......if it's mean't to be and if it doesn't you still have two beautiful souls to teach and guide through this world. Try some bruschetta it's comfort food.