Why we like what we like

Central Argument: The things that we like is because of what we do.

            We as humans, have some likes and dislikes. And it is natural to feel that way. Although, what we like is not because of what it is but because of what we do or how we do it. The character of the substance or the stuff we like itself does not posses any special character itself, but the way we take them, use them and think about them makes it special to us.

            In the article Why we like what we like, there is an example given about how people are not even able to differentiate between dog food and pate when they are not told what it is; “It turns out most people won't notice the difference between paté and dog food, so long as the latter is suitably presented with the right sort of garnish.” This shows that we make things like “pate” to be edible and “dog food” as something that is only given to dogs not humans. In the article it also mentions about how “Chinese food tastes better with chop sticks” and that is because of how one thinks but not because of the special characteristic that “chopstick” brings while having “Chinese food.”

I have always told people that I would never eat a rabbit in my life, because they are one of my favorite animals. I was eight when my brother wanted to try some sort of experiment on me. I was blindfolded and was made to try many food items. He asked me about what I thought it was. So I said it was chicken for some, goat meat and I said that it was dried meat. Later on my brother revealed the truth to me. He said that the meat that I said was goat turned out to be rabbit, and the dried meat was crocodile meat. I was horrified. Although, now this horrible experience of mine explains about how people make things special and that is not what the object possesses.

We make things special because of what we know. “After all, if we can't really taste the difference between cheap beer mixed with vinegar and an expensive micro-brew, then surely this means that our preference for the finer stuff is, well, a pretension.” And it is true that people are pretentious about what they take, and what they have. If they think that it is good, then they buy it, use it and keep it, but people are not able to find out what the difference is if they taste when blind.

There might be exceptions in this type of cases. Although, it is true that what we like is because of what we do and how we do. Like the Dog food and the pate, we at times just need same type of garnish and we would not be able to tell the difference about what we ate because we think it is the same. And eating Chinese food with chopsticks is something that we do that makes it more special. So what we like is because of what we do, and how we do.