Velociworld

WHAT IT TASTE LIKE?

I wrote recently of the sense of Touch, and how the tactile sense is the most important of all, for it is pervasive, encompassing every fiber of our being. And I stand by that.

But what about the sense of Taste? I would submit that is the second most important sense. I would rather be blind or deaf than lose my sense of Taste. Think about it. Without a sense of taste they may as well spoon Soylent Green in you. Bland, grits-textured gruel. And the thing is, that seems to me the most likely of senses to be subjective in nature. I mean, with rods and cones and pupils and irises and corneas being what they are, we all see the exact same thing. Except for the colorblind, those poor pathetic bastards. Mauve is taupe to them, ecru is eggshell. Just fucking pitiful. There should be a UNICEF concert for the colorblind, to teach them the hazards of wearing turquoise whilst color benighted.

And hearing. Those hammers and anvils and stirrups and cochlea are all objective mass production. We hear what everyone else hears. Unless you are a Beastie Boys fan. Then you are what we call, statistically, an outlier.

But taste? If ever a sense had the opportunity to be subjective it would be taste. Consider the vagaries among taste buds. Doesn't it seem likely, even probable, that buds would differ among people? But nope. Nope. Watermelon, I gather, tastes like watermelon to everyone. Pecans taste like pecans throughout the species. Even shit, among those of that particular bent, probably tastes like shit the world over.

And I understand the limitations. One melon tastes different than another, and God only knows the variance in turds. But to take a specific specimen, a particular sample of a particular key lime pie, for instance, that slice would taste the same to everyone. That's freaky, man.

Or take, like, oh, I don't know, vaginas. Lot of vagaries there. For sho. Now there is a common thread of taste there, the experts will tell you. And some people will eat most anything on that level of the food pyramid. Good on 'em, I say.

Me? That, I reckon, is where the sense of taste might get a little more subjective. That netherworld is an area of chemical balancing more delicate than an atomic clock, more finely tuned than an Italian engine. In fact, I would go so far as to say that menu for me is more rarified than a Westchester County croquet club. As data rich as a null set. Not much between my brackets.

But hey. That's just me. When it's good, it's great. When it's not? Have I showed you my null set? Just allow me my prejudices. I prefer aloe over albacore.

The sense of Taste. Ah, yes. Kind of makes you glad you can't Smell this site, doesn't it?