Wow, this thread really exploded far beyond the original question.
LB: I have met a lot of people who seem to have the same question. I don’t think there’s any way to fully put yourself in the other sides shoes. Let me explain what I mean:
There are people (like myself) who are really into Gemarra and every possible situation in practical halachah that could, but probably never would arise. A lot of others consider this totally dry and are more into philosophical stuff like Chassidus. They don’t understand how a person could sit and learn “dry” technical stuff for more than a half hour without getting bored. People like myself don’t understand how the other side can listen to inspirational/philosophical stuff over and over without getting tired of it. It all starts to sound the same to me.
For BT’s: People on the more philosophical side like I described (like you seem to be) tend to be drawn more towards Chassidus, while people into the technical would probably prefer the Litvish velt. As for FFB’s, they all just do what they were raised to do ideally.