A Refined Palate

In my prior post, I spoke of my deep persistent hatred for zombies. I did, however, give the caveat that maybe someday down the line, that could change. I've lived enough life (yeah, a quarter century is a good start) to notice a trend for myself and others around me. Tastes change.

There're different kinds of taste to determine preference for. There's literal taste, the tastebuds on your tongue convey information to your brain and establish what you want to eat. And there's what one finds appealing in experiences. The stories they read, the sports they play, the places they go, all of those factors filter into set up each person's unique lifestyle tastes. Changing tastes in the latter aspect was touched on in my post about sloppy stories - with time, I grew to expect more from the media I consume. My tastes changed. 

Fun fact about flavor-taste: the average human palate is constantly developing. Babies have sensitivity to sweetness and bitterness from birth (evolutionarily, sweet meant more energy, bitter meant poisonous) but don't really show signs of reacting to saltiness until at least 5 months. After that, the tastebuds one has keep altering, before essentially settling on your final tastes around 35 to 40 years of age, without any other outside influences. From 40 to 50 years old, some tastebuds start dying while others start to shrink. Around age 60 onward, it will become increasingly difficult to separate different flavors or their categories on the palate. Salty and sweet may become indistinguishable. 

This is a slower process than it seems, and might not even be as severe as indicated depending on how your mouth was treated. But that's FORTY YEARS of constant growth and change beforehand! When I was 8, I hated mushrooms. At age 12 I realized what I had been missing out on by waiting on trying mushrooms again. For the longest time, I despised rice. It took stir-fry and sushi to ween me back onto it, but now I enjoy a good rice side. Up until very recently, polenta triggered my gag reflex something awful, but I can finally be a proper Italian and enjoy the cheesy goodness. 

So, much like tastebuds, personal tastes are constantly changing. If you're reading this, odds are you're not a hermit secluded from society. The outside influences of other people and their experiences and opinions influence each and every one of us in many different ways. We are not stagnant. We are vivacious, we are alive! It seems appropriate that I chose October to write so much about change. That's gotta be the pinnacle theme of Autumn! Because there is so much continuous change, it's worth giving things another chance. I felt like, the first time I wrote that, it didn't have the full argument I wanted for it to back it up. So here it is. Give your least favorite food another shot. Try out that one texture that bothers you after a year of avoiding it. Take another look at that show you dismissed early on in the first episode. Pick up that book you didn't think you were ready for.

Embrace your change.