Favoritism

     Is favorite best? Most beloved? Most popular? Your pet objects? Why are things favorited? What causes people to choose something preferred or deemed more beneficial than another?
     One of the largest components in creating "favorites" is upbringing and taste. The environment that forms an individual contributes a large portion to his experience. Either that experience caters to and embraces his tastes and interests, or it causes a rebellion to embrace the things directly opposite of that initial upbringing. Further experience and interactions through life will gradually shift these tastes as he ages.
     Coupled with the environmental experience is the association of memories with those particular markers. I have terrific memories from going up to see my grandparents every summer in a small, isolated, backwoods town in Western New York state. Many of my passions and ideals of life stem from the joy developed and landscape explored during those stays. Conversely, grandparents on the other side of my family cherished material wealth and social habits of the higher end of society. As I aged, one situation saw me rebel while the other saw me attraction. The generation of soldiers from the 1940s will be hard pressed to support German industry under any circumstances while the new generations hold little grudge against their German counterparts.

     Emotional stimulation is the last stimulus of favorited items. Psychologists and market analysists attempt to associate activities or feelings with specific emotional states. Colors have an impact on this as well. Many religious movements in the modern West have attempted to ally their teachings with emotional peace and benevolence.
     In the end, one's preference for most things has little impact on on the overall curvature of life. Your satisfaction in life should be unhindered whether your door is brown, white, or green. The pampered, excessively materialistic West throws temper tantrums for favored positions and items while those less privileged are more accepting of adverse conditions. Reexamine your priorities and determine which preferences define your core values to diminish other, simply pleasant, emotional associations that needlessly inhibit key judgement choices of favoritism. 

 __    
Agatha Tyche