Learning about taste in a culinary vs. non-culinary context
With non-original foods:
- Mom, I want a pain au chocolat!
- Pains au chocolat aren’t good…
- Yes, they are! Give me a pain au chocolat!…
And the mother gives in to the child’s insistence:
- So, is this pain au chocolat good?
- Yes, I want another one!
Each time the child bites into a new pain au chocolat, they experience almost the same flavor: they thus learn that pain au chocolat tastes like pain au chocolat, and that every time they want a pain au chocolat, they can enjoy the same taste of pain au chocolat.
Counter-example with the original foods:
- Mom, I want a fig!
- It’s not the right time to eat, you just finished eating…
- I still want a fig!…
And the mother gives in and gives a fig to the child, who bites into it with gusto:
- Wow… this fig isn’t good… it stings my mouth!
- You see: you didn’t need a fig…
- I’ll never eat a fig again!
- Wait a minute, the figs will be just as good again at the next meal, or in a few days…
The next day, the same figs seem delicious to the same child:
- These figs are so good today…
- That’s because you need them again!
Thus The child learns that they cannot intellectually determine whether figs will be good or bad; they structure their sense of self around questioning, observing their own body, and obeying a natural law that surpasses their ability to predict.
For more details on the consequences of this difference in the structuring of the self, see the page: Alliesthesia and Paranoia.