As someone who highly values education, this may seem like an odd quote to choose. I’d like to add (optimistically) that they’ll hate you for a while. Why is this? I believe it’s because really in-depth thinking about issues that matter is HARD, sometimes even painful. It often results in some rearranging of ideas which can be pretty uncomfortable. 

When I think back to my training, there were a couple professors who were quite hard on me, and there were times I did ‘hate’ them. But only for a while; once I was able to get past my hurt feelings and/or wounded pride, I realized I wouldn’t have thought about the tough issues to nearly the same degree had our interactions been all sunshine and rainbows. 

I think this is one of the problems with social media, and the media in general. Especially over the last two years, I had to fight (often not successfully) the urge to only seek out validation for whatever I already thought about some tough issues. What helped was to realize that’s exactly what was intended! The people publishing many of the posts and articles were trying to make me think I was thinking, which was comforting. I’m betting I’m not alone in this. 

I don’t hate social media. I think it can be an invaluable tool in many ways. And I think it’s ok to be comforted sometimes! But big picture, wouldn’t you rather really be thinking and growing rather than soaking in rhetoric on a regular basis? Next time you find yourself thinking ‘I hate what this says!’ ask yourself- is it because who wrote or said it is ignorant or mean spirited (entirely possible), or is it because there’s a kernel of uncomfortable truth in there that can be useful?