Is it possible for two people to not love each other?
 

I was thinking about this. I know a person can hate another person, but I was thinking that no matter how different two people are, no matter how much they hate each other at first, if they experience enough of life together, they can grow and change as people, and love each other.

thoughts?

I guess they can grow and change, but that doesn't mean they will. I'm hesitant to say it would always be possible.

I'd say it's more likely for them to dislike each other.

If you could get them pointed the right way by finding some thing's they have in common. Showing that to the othher of what they both like. Then I'd say it's possible. Though if they begin to get bored with the thing's they have in common, it'll be derailed by the things they hate about one another. So it could work, but hope that they can find alot in common with each other.

Sometimes having a lot of mutual interests, that could be even worse. I've never been able to date a girl who liked the same things as I did. Though for friendship it'd probably be important. :P

I agree with this. Two people are probably more likely to dislike each other. But, I think any two people could learn to get along. But then again they might kill each other before they get there.

A ridiculous question.

Humans' opinions of other humans are not binary. You're also assuming that two people are stuck in close proximity to one another for prolonged periods.

I think that depending on what situations they go through, they could come to a position of mutual respect. Neither hatred, nor love for the other person.

It depends entirely not on the people, but on the shared experiences, imo. One life event can very easily sway others to being fond of one another, but it can also cause distress and discord.
That said, I personally believe that, yes, people together for a long period of time would be more likely to dislike each other. Humans are a competitive species.

That's a very nice way to put it. :P

How is it at all ridiculous? And of course I'm assuming two people are in close proximity, otherwise how would they meet each other.

I think with enough shared experiences, any two people would come to like each other. But I agree, they might hate each other before that happens.

I told you why. I'll restate what I said and add something else.

1) You are assuming that two people are trapped in close proximity to one another, as if they were marooned on an uninhabited island. Those kinds of things don't happen very often any more, because more and more humans are moving to cities.

2) Human relationships aren't love/hate. There are so many other possibilities, along with degrees of love and hate and different kinds of love and hate.

3) Humans do not befriend the people closest to them, necessarily, nor do they fall in love with the people closest to them. Three different people on this forum fell in love with another person on this forum (six people, three heterosexual couples formed), and in each couple, one partner was from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean than the other (one partner in each couple was from the US, the other was from the UK or Europe). This kind of thing happens more and more often these days, thanks to the internet and services such as Skype.

Your question was ridiculous because the answer should obviously be "No".

Perhaps I should have stated it, but I assumed it would be inferred that the two people come into contact.

My point was not that two people will ultimately always fall in love with each other. Rather, that two people always have the potential to learn to love each other (ie: they are trapped on an island, learn to work together for their own survial, etc)

Also, I am very aware of the greyness of emotion. I mean love in the most general of terms: good feelings towards another, which may be derived from any reason.

edit: btw, I didn't realize 3 couples had formed on this forum, I must've missed that. That's pretty awesome.

I have yet to meet a person I can't get along with. :)