&gt; <i>it&#x27;s hard to dislike something you actually got to know, because knowing requires some sort of empathy.</i><p>I can&#x27;t say that I agree. I don&#x27;t see why dislike has to be irrational.<p>&gt; <i>You can list all the problems with something you know, and say why it&#x27;s not as good as it could be, etc., but if you declare that you &quot;hate&quot; it whole, it&#x27;s a sign you don&#x27;t know much about it.</i><p>It&#x27;s not one or the other. That list of &quot;all the problems with something you know&quot; is an explanation for why you dislike that something.