Style Through Intelligence.com

How to enjoy anything...well almost!

A few nights ago I was having beers with friends, when someone offered me an expensive well-aged Scotch to drink.

There was only one problem…I have never really drank it much, and don’t care too much for the taste of it either, and therefore missed out on a great opportunity to say I have tried it.

Truth be told, the more I come to think about it, years ago, I used to be the same with wine,  avocado, tuna, mushrooms, certain types of music and a lot of other things as well.

Until I acquired a taste for them.

This got me thinking about it and I realized, If I didn’t like those things before and now do, what is to stop me from acquiring tastes for other things that I don’t currently like? Hence my research into this began.

What is an acquired taste?

It sounds very “high society” (and I say that tongue in cheek) to say that X “requires an acquired taste” or “I have acquired a taste for X”, but really it’s not like that at all.

An acquired taste is purely the name given to something that is unpleasant upon immediate experience i.e. something that requires a deliberate effort.

There are two broad categories of taste: the first being Literal taste, which applies naturally to food and drink, and the second being aesthetic taste which relates to cultural patterns or choice of preference i.e. music, fashion, art and so forth.

Why acquire a taste for something you don’t particularly like?

I think that it is really important to experience the most you can in life and not be ignorant to anything new or different. Not liking something is not really an excuse that I will allow myself to use anymore, because there were actually lot of things that I now like doing that I didn’t when I first tried them years ago, or I held cognitive fears associated with them at the time that put me off of them.

Liking, tasting and trying exotic, new  things that are not well liked by the masses, has a sense of style about it and comes into an important part of the “lifestyle quart” from the definition of style. It aids in creating your aura, makes you an interesting person, and has other want to get to know you.

How do we acquire a taste?

After doing some research I have come up with a process that will aid in the acquiring of a taste for something (for the purpose of this post I will call it X).

1. Why do you want to acquire X, and look for the POSITIVES in doing it. I think it is just a good idea to know the reason behind why you are doing something, and not just because some bloke suggested in a blog post that it was a good idea to try J. Something simple such as fitting in with a certain crowd or social circle is more than a good enough reason to acquire a taste and have a new experience in your life. Try and come up with 3 positives outcomes that  will add to your life/lifestyle.
2. Find out some background on X. Most people don’t like doing certain things because of the fear of unknown, or they don’t know where to start. If you know the background of X and can appreciate differences between varied types of X (based on your prior knowledge), then you are bound to appreciate X itself. It doesn’t have to be a degree, just something like having a look at Wikipedia is enough and a lot more than most people do before learning something new.
3. Initial exposure. Pretty obvious. Start small, very small if you must.
4. Repeated exposure. Make an effort to try as much as you can and as often as you can. There are some beliefs on acquiring a taste out there that are based on “all or nothing” i.e. eat 20 olives each day for 3 days and you will like them. I have a contrary belief to this and think that it is far better to do a little over longer periods of time, so try it a little but try it more often.
5. Variety and experimentation.  A lot of X’s have different varieties, types etc. make sure you try the different types to get the one that suits you. i.e. wines, cheeses, olives all have many different types, find you best fit.  Make sure you experiment with, as this can play a major part in whether you will enjoy something:

• Surroundings
• Comfort levels
• Times of day
• Moods
• Social settings
• Present with friends etc.

For example: I love a beer when I am sitting on the couch, relaxing watching sport, or in the company of friends, but can’t say that I like it first thing in the morning, or directly after working out. If I only tried beer for the first time during these later situations, then chances are I am not going to enjoy beer.

Some extra tips

1. If your struggling to like something, try pretending or acting as if you already do and have the same responses and feelings that other lovers would. This will help your mind produce the desired taste.

2. Remember it will always take time. You won’t love wine tomorrow (if you do make sure you let us know in the comments below), but you will eventually.

Some things we might consider Acquiring a taste for

So just in case you can’t think of something that you would like to acquire a taste for below are some starting points:

• Spirits: whiskey, bourbon, tequila, cocktails, cognac etc.
• Beer – different varieties
• Health foods: avocados, mushrooms, eggplant etc.
• Olives
• Cheese
• Wine: white or red
• Music: Jazz, classical, rock, alternative, punk, blues and roots etc.
• Theater
• Art
• Fashions
• Foreign cultures
• Anything else that you don’t like and want to : only limited by your imagination.

For your reference/amusement the next two on my list are Olives and Scotch. I will be keeping notes, and report back here in another post to let you know how I go with it.

Take Action

1. If you feel as though you want to acquire a taste for something new, follow the 5 step process
2. Report back here of any success’s or learning’s that you have whilst trying

What do you think? Are there particular things that you would like to acquire a taste for? How will you (or do you) go about doing it?