A Great Lunch is easy for those who have no preferences.

That last entry on the lines from the poem Xinxin Ming (which can be found in many varying translations, but with a common meaning), oddly made me think about group eating, specifically the choices leading up to the same.

I can enjoy just about every cuisine or category. I have preferences and favourites, though these shift over years and even by time of year or time of day, but I can greatly enjoy a meal from almost any of the options that anyone might throw in the ring.

Ever deal with people who have made polarized opinions their way of trying to make their choices override others? They do this by “hating” anything but their preferred choice at the moment. Everyone else’s opinions gets invalidated because one person declares that all other suggestions are invalid because they fall in the hated category.

“Burgers? Hate em. Steaks? Hate em. Pizza, hot pot, sushi? Hate em.”

This all or nothing thing has corrupted society generally. It’s the people who think every movie is either 10 or 1, when a vanishingly small number should qualify for such a ranking. Every political party or figure is all good or all bad. Every Uber driver is five stars or one star.

Like…shouldn’t the average Uber driver be 2.5 stars? Isn’t that how the system should work? Isn’t it a massive failure of the system if drivers are kicked from the platform for falling below 4.6? What is even the point of the rest of the range? It’s illusory nonsense that can be found across most customer feedback system.