Predisposition to liking things

[MagicNinja]

One of my recent thoughts has been about why some people don't like certain types of music, or food. I guess the reason I am quite curious about this is because I simply can't understand why someone can't like a perfectly cooked steak, a really fresh piece of fruit, a multitude of different foods, pieces of music, etc.

I am also curious since, compared to most people, I like EVERYTHING. I can't think of a food i don't like, and if I could, I would be almost positive that if i put some effort into finding someone who could prepare it well, i would like it; also, I wonder if my natural like of a huge variety of music comes from my study and interest in these musical areas and the way music is structured; eg studying pieces of classical music (and playing the piano), going to jazz clubs, or getting high and going to hip hop or rock concerts (and playing the guitar).

I guess this could also be applied to food since I am always thinking of the best ways to prepare fresh ingredients and also because of my relative affluence have been to many very very good restaurants.

What are your thoughts? Are some people just BORN to not really like a fresh apple? Or to enjoy wine? Or is it all just cultural (eg people of lower income might think they would never enjoy wine but if they were thrust into a culture that encouraged the drinking of wine, or if there was peer pressure, would they come to like it, as any other SANE person would?). I just find it weird that one person could be biologically programmed to not like a type of music; so is it all just cultural?

[Maulik]

There have been correlations with picky eaters such as my self having more acute sense of taste whereas others who overeat or can eat more than their share must do so to compensate for the lack of ability to differentiate between different tastes.

[MagicNinja]

'more acute sense of taste?'. The reason I like most these things is BECAUSE of the multitude of flavors available eg I like oysters because I sit down and taste the freshness and the taste of the sea whereas someone else might just notice the mushy texture and also the fact that it was raw seafood (EWW!!!). Also I didn't mean that i overeat at all.

[turnipmonster]

I also like a really large range of music compared to most people, and I've found that the better my ears have gotten, the more different types of music I enjoy. I think it's a combination of natural inclination/interest, and overall mindset. most of the time when I listen to music that's all I'm doing, whereas most people listen to music as a background to something else. my theory is this is because most people are highly visual creatures, but that is perhaps too far off topic.

fwiw I think a lot of it is cultural/social. very interesting experiment at columbia:
http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/paper-of-the-we.html

relevant part:
...Fortunately, the explosive growth of the Internet has made it possible to study human activity in a controlled manner for thousands or even millions of people at the same time. Recently, my collaborators, Matthew Salganik and Peter Dodds, and I conducted just such a Web-based experiment. In our study, published last year in Science, more than 14,000 participants registered at our Web site, Music Lab (www.musiclab.columbia.edu), and were asked to listen to, rate and, if they chose, download songs by bands they had never heard of. Some of the participants saw only the names of the songs and bands, while others also saw how many times the songs had been downloaded by previous participants. This second group — in what we called the “social influence” condition — was further split into eight parallel “worlds” such that participants could see the prior downloads of people only in their own world. We didn’t manipulate any of these rankings — all the artists in all the worlds started out identically, with zero downloads — but because the different worlds were kept separate, they subsequently evolved independently of one another.

This setup let us test the possibility of prediction in two very direct ways. First, if people know what they like regardless of what they think other people like, the most successful songs should draw about the same amount of the total market share in both the independent and social-influence conditions — that is, hits shouldn’t be any bigger just because the people downloading them know what other people downloaded. And second, the very same songs — the “best” ones — should become hits in all social-influence worlds.

[imitation]

Most people are just set in their habits due to upbringing, I tend to believe that no one really dislikes anything they're just not used to it. I similarly to you can eat anything and will enjoy it everytime (this is really with out exception) if it's well prepared. I don't have any real knowledge of music but I can enjoy a wide variety of stuff just because I've been exposed to almost all of it from having friends who enjoy all kinds and from going to live shows, clubs, raves, etc.

But still your and mine wide appreciation of many kinds of things could just be an effect of our peers. For example I don't have a wide appreciation or "liking" of political ideas because I grew up very left wing, so does that mean i'm hardwired to reject right wing rhetoric?

[MagicNinja]

Yea what I am saying is if you give Joe IHateFish a peer group that is primarily composed of fishermen, fishmongers, and the best chefs at cooking in the country, I find it impossible to believe that if he consumes as much fish as i have in my life, he will not like it as much, or more, than i do. But maybe he doesn't. I also wonder if genes and intelligence could affect your like or certain foods, eg you probably have to be smarter to work out why some french dish tastes the way it does, compared to why a french fry tastes that way...

As for things of a political nature, I don't know, since the values instilled from parenting are obviously going to be stronger than someone telling you capsicum actually does taste good, and these values will affect your every decision (even if you look at things super objectively).

[mason55]

mart i wish i could add to this discussion, but i've been wondering this forever. i'm like you in that i've never found a food i didn't like if it was prepared well or a piece of music that was written well. i've always wondered why people are so picky when there's so much out there to enjoy if you're willing to.

maybe it's the fact that it takes effort to appreciate new things and humans in general are lazy? that's all i've ever been able to come up with

[gusmahler]

I can tell you exactly why I hate ketchup--when I was 6, my parents forced me to eat a McDonalds hamburger that I hated. Traumatic experience and to this day, I won't even consider adding ketchup to my food.

But some of it is cultural. E.g., country music is portrayed as "hick" music. Because I don't want to be considered a "hick", I never listened to it until last year. When I finally started listening to it, it turns out I actually like it.

There are many people turned on to (or off of music) because of the way the music is stereotyped (e.g., rap music is for thugs, smooth jazz is for old people, boy band pop is for girls). So they won't even consider listening to the music. (E.g., I was in a car with a group of people. The driver, a 25 year old male, had the smooth jazz station on. A passenger, a 32 year old female, ragged on him the entire trip. She wouldn't even give the music a chance. To her, it was old people music and the 25 year old shouldn't have been listening to it. I actually like smooth jazz, so I was defending him.)

[MagicNinja]

i was thinking about things like ketchup or overly seasoned foods etc and i don't really think they come into it; if you don't like french fries its quite different to not liking potatos imo; I don't think my mum likes french fries, probably because they just taste like salt and fat (things she probably enjoys in balance etc).

I just find it unusual that i could take a menu from any top restaurant in any country, things like Per Se, Nobu, whatever, and order any dish on the menu, and i would be at least very content. But it seems like not everyone is like this for some reason.

[guids]

5 years ago, I had tons of predispositions to all types of things from food to music, to drinks. Now Ill have biases about what I think the experience will be like, but I try to put that aside before I do something and go in with a good attitude, in the hopes I will find something else to obsess about.