Response: FOOD and TASTES

A responseto “Why We Like What We Like” by Alva Noe

Central argument: the distinguish between things we like and don’t like is not by taste, but by our brains.

   

“Why We Like What We Like” by Alva Noe shows that people cannot tell the differences of good and bad food by tasting but by the satisfaction of our brains. The study shows that people cannot tell the difference between good and bad foods when one of them ate a cold potato chip with a crunchy sound on the headphone. The brain tells them that it’s the crunchy ones that they are eating just by the sound. I disagree with this article because I like the food that I like because of its taste (sweet, sour, bitter), which can only be test using the taste buds, there are some wine critics who can tell different types of wine just by tasting them even with their eyes closed, and some people prefer a food that are for some people bad food.

            I personally like spicy food. Of course no one can tell me that it’s spicy when I have my eyes closed when it is not actually spicy. Taste buds are there in the human’s month to tell the differences between foods that are sweet, sour, spicy, and bitter. Anyone would be able to tell the differences between tastes even with them being blinded folded. Well of course, unless their taste buds are not reactive or unresponsive. Therefore, the statement in the article that mentions, the satisfaction of the brains towards foods being behind the like in tastes.

            The article also mentions how some people when blind folded cannot tell the differences from a white wine to a red wine. If that is true then what would be the job of wine critics. Most of them would taste wine with their eyes closed to focus on only the taste of the wine. This study only applies to certain people not all and therefore is wrong and cannot be proven unless more studies are done on it.

            Lastly, different people prefer different types of food. Asians would love spicy food or rice; however westerners would most likely dislike those foods. That’s why when I first moved to India with my family, I did not like Indian food as much because of its oiliness. Just by the fact that bad food to some people could be good foods for some other people, already proves that this study may not apply to every single person on Earth or even the majority of it. It will only apply to certain type of people.

            We will always prefer certain types of foods. This is not because those foods can satisfy our brains and pressure but simply because it is the taste we are used to. Unless the study is given to a more multi-cultural phase then the results could become more believable; at least for me.