You've written the essay on taste that has been brewing on my mind. So eloquent. I was going to share something that resonated, but there ended up being like 5 things.
Another one of your pieces that I will find myself reading again!
My favourite topic ... now I'm inspired to get back to my notes and write about this again!
"We care more about appearing, than being." What a line. It's so much easier to appear than to be. Be requires sacrifice ...maybe tastemakers sacrifice more than we realize. Another wonderful thought provoking musing!!!
Thank you so much, Vicky. 100%, to be requires sacrifice. Which is counterintuitive and a little bit of a paradox. How can just being who/what you are require sacrifice? Yet, it does, because many of us are so deeply into adopting tastes and demeanors mutuated from others that trying to eiminate them feels unnatural and exhausting. If you do write about this, I look forward to reading your thoughts!
"But true taste is a deeply personal affair shaped by unique experiences, explorations, memories, and emotions -- it cannot be merely borrowed or replicated. It’s an important part of our identity." Tying taste to identity is genius, and so insightful. I'd never thought about it that way.
Also while reading this I thought that there are probably some domains that if you develop taste in, it can inform and spill into others. Like meta-domains, 80-20 style. General design rules and proportions is one that comes to mind.
And funny coincidence, in a fancy supermarket the other day I saw like 20 different kinds of extra virgin olive oil, some of them very expensive and with beautiful bottles, and I thought "I wish I was able to discern the difference, I should become an expert on olive oil". I entertained the thought for some hours, I even thought of asking you about it, being inevitably tied to Italy. Later that day I thought about it better and said to myself "what a waste of time".
I'm in my early 30s, so your lines fit perfectly as unintended advice 😂 (though I would love to try your homemade one!).
Thank you, Oscar! Very interesting reflection on the potential spillover effects of taste. This will make me think for a while! Well, I'd love to cook for you if you ever make it to Milano. And in that occasion, you'll taste my EVO oil. Which is excellent to me, but maybe to you it's tasteless. It's really very subjective. :)
I really enjoyed this Silvio, you put into words something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I love your perspective, especially since I’ve witnessed your great taste in Jazz! It’s funny though, that’s also a passion, something that clearly gets you excited, which is so infectious. Sometimes when the word “taste” is invoked, it feels like all the negative parts you outlined here. I liked the pieces you pulled from too. Very interesting look at taste!
Thank you, Michelle! I wish we could get to a point where we develop an awareness of our good taste, without having to necessarily rely on the judgment of others. With no benchmarks of sort or validations. :)
As I read this, I thought about parallels to morality and ethics of all things. I remember sitting in class mentally juggling the contradiction of individual morality and global truths. While you shared your experience with taste, all I could think was that taste is individual, but if taste is the ability to recognize quality, maybe there is a universal aspect to taste. But now I'm not so sure I could defend the assertion that taste and quality are correlated.
As always, a wonderful reflection on the many layers of such a simple idea as taste.
Thank you, Latham. I went through a similar journey myself. From thinking that taste equals quality and that there's a universal "good taste" attached to a universal "good quality", to realizing that it's really something so personal that it shapes our identity. After all, we could debate along the same lines on beauty, what it is and what it represents. :)
Excellent reflection on not only the meaning of taste, but a candid perspective on why taste is useful in the social world (status) and how, paradoxically, that can spoil our own development of taste. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Taylor, for reading and your kind words. Yes, it can really jeopardize the development of our true taste. And as you rightly say, that's a paradox.
You should have a look at David Hume's "On The Standard of Taste" (1760), and maybe also E. Galgut's "Hume's Aesthetic Standard" (2012)! I wrote a paper about Hume's standard of taste for my intro to philosophy class last semester:) Sometimes it can be hard to read/understand Hume's writing, but having several secondary sources explaining it helped.
You've written the essay on taste that has been brewing on my mind. So eloquent. I was going to share something that resonated, but there ended up being like 5 things.
Another one of your pieces that I will find myself reading again!
Thank you so much, Camilo. So glad you liked it and that we’re on the same wavelength on this subject. :)
My favourite topic ... now I'm inspired to get back to my notes and write about this again!
"We care more about appearing, than being." What a line. It's so much easier to appear than to be. Be requires sacrifice ...maybe tastemakers sacrifice more than we realize. Another wonderful thought provoking musing!!!
Thank you so much, Vicky. 100%, to be requires sacrifice. Which is counterintuitive and a little bit of a paradox. How can just being who/what you are require sacrifice? Yet, it does, because many of us are so deeply into adopting tastes and demeanors mutuated from others that trying to eiminate them feels unnatural and exhausting. If you do write about this, I look forward to reading your thoughts!
Great musings on a great topic, Silvio.
"But true taste is a deeply personal affair shaped by unique experiences, explorations, memories, and emotions -- it cannot be merely borrowed or replicated. It’s an important part of our identity." Tying taste to identity is genius, and so insightful. I'd never thought about it that way.
Also while reading this I thought that there are probably some domains that if you develop taste in, it can inform and spill into others. Like meta-domains, 80-20 style. General design rules and proportions is one that comes to mind.
And funny coincidence, in a fancy supermarket the other day I saw like 20 different kinds of extra virgin olive oil, some of them very expensive and with beautiful bottles, and I thought "I wish I was able to discern the difference, I should become an expert on olive oil". I entertained the thought for some hours, I even thought of asking you about it, being inevitably tied to Italy. Later that day I thought about it better and said to myself "what a waste of time".
I'm in my early 30s, so your lines fit perfectly as unintended advice 😂 (though I would love to try your homemade one!).
Anyway, great taste my friend.
Thank you, Oscar! Very interesting reflection on the potential spillover effects of taste. This will make me think for a while! Well, I'd love to cook for you if you ever make it to Milano. And in that occasion, you'll taste my EVO oil. Which is excellent to me, but maybe to you it's tasteless. It's really very subjective. :)
I really enjoyed this Silvio, you put into words something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. I love your perspective, especially since I’ve witnessed your great taste in Jazz! It’s funny though, that’s also a passion, something that clearly gets you excited, which is so infectious. Sometimes when the word “taste” is invoked, it feels like all the negative parts you outlined here. I liked the pieces you pulled from too. Very interesting look at taste!
Thank you, Michelle! I wish we could get to a point where we develop an awareness of our good taste, without having to necessarily rely on the judgment of others. With no benchmarks of sort or validations. :)
As I read this, I thought about parallels to morality and ethics of all things. I remember sitting in class mentally juggling the contradiction of individual morality and global truths. While you shared your experience with taste, all I could think was that taste is individual, but if taste is the ability to recognize quality, maybe there is a universal aspect to taste. But now I'm not so sure I could defend the assertion that taste and quality are correlated.
As always, a wonderful reflection on the many layers of such a simple idea as taste.
Thank you, Latham. I went through a similar journey myself. From thinking that taste equals quality and that there's a universal "good taste" attached to a universal "good quality", to realizing that it's really something so personal that it shapes our identity. After all, we could debate along the same lines on beauty, what it is and what it represents. :)
Insightful and pragmatic. Well-crafted.
Thank you, George.
Excellent reflection on not only the meaning of taste, but a candid perspective on why taste is useful in the social world (status) and how, paradoxically, that can spoil our own development of taste. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Taylor, for reading and your kind words. Yes, it can really jeopardize the development of our true taste. And as you rightly say, that's a paradox.
You should have a look at David Hume's "On The Standard of Taste" (1760), and maybe also E. Galgut's "Hume's Aesthetic Standard" (2012)! I wrote a paper about Hume's standard of taste for my intro to philosophy class last semester:) Sometimes it can be hard to read/understand Hume's writing, but having several secondary sources explaining it helped.