Several years ago I used to find black pepper too spicy, then one day I put on some hot sauce and kinda liked it, so I started adding a bit to every meal. Just as with programming or music, when you push yourself and go a bit beyond your limit, you get good. Well, after several years of this, I now eat frightening amounts of spice. If I want a spicy meal, I use about 2-3ml of 600000 scoville sauce, which isn't too much in hothead circles but would cause a lot of pain in most people.
My grandfather grew peppers and ate massive amounts of them. When he was old though, he lost his sense of taste. It was really sad to see him put Tabasco sauce on everything just to be able to taste it.
This is why I like to keep my tastes pretty tame. I specifically search out 'tangy' sauces rather than simply 'hot' sauces. When I eat whole or sliced peppers, I cut out the membrane on the spicier varieties because I'm more interested in the taste than assaulting my senses.
If you can't tell that a bell pepper has a tiny bit of zesty spice to it, your choice of peppers is too spicy and you are destroying your sense of taste.
I'm originally from Louisiana. I have yet to encounter a place with better food, I lost 20 lbs. when I moved away. However outside of Louisiana, Cajun food simply mean pour Cayenne pepper on it. There is a whole lot more to Cajun (or Creole, which is different) cooking than heat. Generally the heat level should be enough to feel but not enough to overpower the the other spices. This level varies from person to person depending on how much spicy food they typically eat. I've met a cook from Commander's Palace in New Orleans once and he admitted to spicing differently based on where he thought someone was from.
