The word TASTE is typically related to eatable food items, but many times it is also used in a broader perspective to indicate individual liking/ disliking of a person.
Taste is always associated with the sense of smell because we have the same types of receptors in our body for both senses of smell and taste. Our favorite dish or anything โto our tasteโ means it should confirm to our favorite patterns or references in the mind. Our taste buds in the throat and sensing receptors in the nose should appreciate it by comparing to the previously experienced and stored patterns.
In a broader perspective, any shape conforming to the visual reference patterns in our brain having good experiences, is liked by us, be it an object or person. The same applies to the senses of hearing and touch also. We compare the interacted sounds or touches with the previously stored references and then label it good or bad.
When we remember any experience, we go back to the past and relive those moments. We โact, behave and feelโ like we did it at that time. We repeatedly activate our good experiences stored in the mind by remembering the past good events. At the same time, we tend to forget the bad experience to filter it out from our memory as far as possible. This is the gift nature has given us to accumulate and grow the combined sense of โwell-beingโ in our minds.
We constantly explore and build new experience patterns to our liking. But this is not always an individual selection. The society or environment around us has got a fair share of โdecision makingโ in this process.
To illustrate this effect with an example, think of a native person newly migrated to the city for better living conditions. Normally, at some point of time, s(he) is exposed to a new drink called โcoffeeโ. His/her initial reactions are not good as the drink tastes bitter. But due to peer pressure or the social tag attached to this drink or a fear of being labeled as primitive/old fashioned, s(he) decides to enjoy, and after repeated exposures, acquires a taste for the drink. The same happens with alcohol.
If we try to locate the origin of this process of taste building, the roots are found in our motherโs profile. Motherโs womb is the safest place we can think of. The food is automatically delivered to us without asking for it. We are moving around in the cage of protection filled with liquid. The images formed in the mind at that time and the smell and taste of the liquid around us are the first reference data for a good experience. When we leave this heavenly abode, we suddenly face a harsh and unknown environment around us. Gradually, we learn to handle situations and manipulate the environment.
In our formative years, the body odor and touch of our mother is the best experience we store as a reference.
Perhaps with these initial references, we go on the lookout for a โdream partnerโ throughout our lives. Only lucky ones find their โdream partnerโ and others nag about their partners for not conforming to the initial experiences stored in the mind as a reference.
For those unfortunate ones, who are deprived of this early association with their mothers, anyone providing protection and care takes the place of the mother for building references in the mind.
Thus, our taste defines our personality dynamically, and this process makes each one of us a unique person in the universe.
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