Prompt 2: "Why We Like What We Like" by Alva Noe (13.7 Cosmos and iCulture)

Central Argument- People like what they want to like, with regards to their thinking and perception.

Alva Noe, of the Why We Like What We Like article, says “if we can't really taste the difference between cheap beer mixed with vinegar and an expensive micro-brew, then surely this means that our preference for the finer stuff is, well, a pretension.” This explains that the each and every individual has a different mindset, allowing him/her to choose his preference and taste. I have to agree with Noe, as she writes about what people like with their minds, not with what is expensive or popular.

Say theoretically, that there are different food critics. They are well trained and experts at what they do. They have never made a mistake. Let’s say I give them some wine, they would be able to tell the wine company, type and maybe even dates, even though they DON’T like it. Let’s us now say there is some hotdogs with mustard for the food critics. Each of them have one, but one, although he is a food critic, he refuses to have one as he may have some kind of disease or history with the snack. It’s all just a state of mind, you have to like it to have it, and you usually like it once you already have it. If you didn’t, then you wouldn’t know what you like.

Now say you’re walking through a super market picking up food for dinner. You walk through numerous isles you have never seen before and decide to try walking into the isle for once. You see things you have never seen before. A jam with the taste of trees, a shoe made of wax and many other weird stuff like that. You would not buy these items, because you have never tried them in your life. You are afraid that you would waste your money on something so dubious and uncertain. Therefore, you would walk over to the next isle knowing what to buy, stuff or items you “like.”

When I was young, my mother really bought me stuff I didn’t know about, mostly food items. As I accompanied her, one day, to the super market, there was this really delicious looking meat on the freezer, for a reasonable price too. It looked amazing and my mouth watered. She didn’t allow me to buy it. All she said was, “what if you don’t like it,” then I thought about the other times I asked for this really cool looking bottled drink, which I think was juice, tasted bitter and the noodles that had no taste at all. With that in mind, I walked away with Mom without a word.

What we individuals like is all preferred through the continuous transactions of the brain. What we like is our choice. If we never tried it, then we wouldn’t like it, even though it may be the best snack or cuisine in the world. If you don’t know it, you don’t buy it. Therefore, what we like is all in the state of mind, not with the price of the item or the popularity, but the experience you know, you get, from having that item.