'good' taste - is it taught/learnt or genetic/hormonal?

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

i think its learnt.

― splooge (thesplooge), Monday, 16 August 2004 13:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Learned.

― Michael White (Hereward), Monday, 16 August 2004 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree to some extent. For example, I didn't really like hip-hop untill I lived with someone who used to play it all the time for two years, and I began to pick out the factors that make a good hip-hop tune. But I know from conversations I've had with this person that we differ slightly on what those factors are, so maybe there is a small part of taste which is determined by something innate in the chemistry of your brain.

I didn't get much sleep last night, so that may not make sense.

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

taught/learnt doesn't really get at the effort one might have to make to acquire "good taste." That is, for some a lot of that effort is definitely self-directed.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Taste, darling? It's a matter of good breeding, of course. Like these teeth of mine!

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:03 (twenty-one years ago)

who are you trying to kid, a British person with good teeth?

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I realise that I like Black Metal for completely different reasons to my friends.

― dog latin (dog latin), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

my joke was in bad taste.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:07 (twenty-one years ago)

It's also factually incorrect, as you've *seen* the state of my teeth!

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

tasting good is genetic/hormonal

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

the other concept of good taste is kind of absurd

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I didn't get that good a look at your teeth, Kate.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I am British. Did that not give you a clue? ;-)

(Actually, my teeth are not the fault of Being British - I spent years in American being tortured by orthodontists to make my teeth less horsey. It's my terrible FEAR OF DENTISTS brought on my said orthodontists that is actually responsible for the state of my teeth)

― Super-Masonic Black Hole (kate), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:13 (twenty-one years ago)

my teeth are pretty bad despite years of orthidonture. I blame my Irish genes.

― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:14 (twenty-one years ago)

That is, for some a lot of that effort is definitely self-directed.

Yep.

Some modicum of taste can be aquired by watching/listeing to other people, but that's mostly a matter of trying to impress them. That's not taste, it's ass-kissing. The best taste can only be aquired through making an effort to please *yourself*.

― Harold Media (kenan), Monday, 16 August 2004 14:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Curiosity + Refinement = Taste

― Michael White (Hereward), Monday, 16 August 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

All that is necessary to resolve this question is to consider how the manifestations of 'good taste' change radically from one social group to another. In one group, lace curtains may be the height of good taste, while in another they are a laughingstock. Elsewhere, plastering one's hair with cow dung mixed in cow urine is considered aesthetically pleasing. Considering this, it becomes obvious that the canons of good taste are learned.

What seems to be innate (or 'genetic', if you will) is one's ability to discriminate between fine shades of difference within the standards of taste being applied. It is this ability to discriminate a colour named tapioca from one named taupe, or a superfine pearl from a more ordinary pearl, or a witty saying from an overreaching one, that determines whether one is admired as exceptionally tasteful.

― Aimless The Unlogged, Monday, 16 August 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Thanks Aimless, I think that's what I was trying to get at in my addled post earlier.

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 16 August 2004 15:33 (twenty-one years ago)

you can be taught the way to enjoy something. but it can be learnt too. it depends on how open minded you are to trying new things and at the same time how many people are willing/eager to show you new things.

you acquire some basic taste through your upbringing when you're young and then those you want to snog can influence what you like. and your friends too. without actually dictating a taste to you they'd at least encourage you to try out what they like to see what the fuss is about.

― ken c (ken c), Monday, 16 August 2004 15:34 (twenty-one years ago)

im trying to influence the taste of the one im currently snogging ken, but its not going well. its driving them back to their previous taste even more, i think.

― splooge (thesplooge), Monday, 16 August 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Influencing a partner's taste requires marrying them and staying with them for 20 years, I imagine, in which time they will change your taste just as much. As a goal, it's futile.

― Harold Media (kenan), Monday, 16 August 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.