on that acquired taste ...

What does fois gross, olives, opera, classic music and spirituality have in common? 

It seems that they are all part of what we commonly call "acquired tastes", meaning the things that in order to enjoy them one has to learn to do so, as their delight does not come naturally per say.  

Why is it that some people's nature seem to enjoy certain things and the next person others? can we all learn to enjoy this and that? can we share enjoyments or are they all personal? Is this another nature vs nurture type of scenarios? Or is this rather what distinguishes human beings? Perhaps at the core of it is personal what we enjoy naturally and what we choose to learn to enjoy by choice. The addict has learned to enjoy his addiction therefore the problem to get him out of it. Learning to enjoy something evidently is not always for the good of one self even, nor utilitarian in nature nor even good for our own survival. Some criminals are know to enjoy committing their crimes also. 

It seems clear that the path is a choice yet the possibility is what I want to concentrate on, the capacity we have to learn to enjoy new things. It seems to me as if there is a relationship between knowledge and education, and taste and enjoyment or is it rather hardwired?

How often do we teach ourselves to learn to enjoy something new? Games, places, attitudes, even people. We break up from a relationship and we "teach" ourselves to love someone new, often times completely different; therefore we can conclude that the surely can do it, learn to love something new, someone new. How? keep at it even though at first it might taste odd or off putting I suppose is the first step and simple constant decision is at the end. Can we "force" ourselves to like something? do we? I ran into some reasons rather of why we do not do it, here some: a. because we do not want to fail at attempting it, "I am afraid"; b. because it is simply off putting, hard, boring, unpleasant, "not my thing"; c. because we don't "feel like it". In either one of these cases it seems that we are the only ones on the way of our learning, and not the thing itself.

Ok, we have it clear that it is possible I hope, it is possible to "learn to enjoy" any and everything, it is all on our determination and choice.

Is there "higher" or "better" things to learn to enjoy? Is there a category or classification of higher and lower things to enjoy? music, books, foods, drinks, people, places, attitudes, moods, etc. Is there higher music, art, sports? Hockey fans might argue that and yet soccer fans will argue the same point towards their choice; same argument goes to classical music lovers and punk rockers or Indie followers, we can all argue to defend the goodness of our likes/dislikes. What one cannot argue is the amount of knowledge acquired or needed in order to enjoy them each; the avid baseball fan must understand statistics very well in order to fully enjoy the game. I have exposed myself to attending some hockey games and yet not understanding the rules of it even fully, I surely enjoyed the evening with friends and though I might have annoyed them with my questions I have come to the realization that if I am to truly enjoy the same level with my friends of attending a game I must be in their level of understanding so we can talk equally, at the same level, regardless of agreeing or disagreeing about this or that play and this or that team. Knowledge put us all in the same level to enjoy that common thing, knowledge surely is the equalizer of common enjoyment, whether is at a bar or at a church, the common knowledge is what makes the community enjoyable.

My 13 year old boy asked me if it is easier to enjoy a pop concert than a classic music one, or if it was easier to enjoy fast food than gourmet food. Easier? better? tough question I thought; it certainly made me think of the following:

1. There must a natural state with which we are born when it comes to taste or likes as we all have our own individual and peculiar ones.

2. Some taste must be a product of our environment, societal rules and home practices, as not all societies enjoy eating guinea pigs for dinner.

3. Though society plays a big role on our taste it is ultimately a personal choice it seems as not everyone in the guinea pig eating society eats guinea pig. (the non conforming individual)

4. Exposing oneself to it is one way to experience it, to "learn" if one may, to enjoy new things.

How about we learn rather to enjoy the fine things of life? wait a minute, who said that classical music was "fine" who qualified foie gross as "fine"? or the Opera? or spiritualism even? shouldn't we all just be more utilitarians and choose whats best for the majority? or should be simply open to anything? It is ours the choice of course, we choose to expose ourselves to whatever we feel like it yet with this freedom comes the responsibility to choose to expose ourselves to productive and inspiring things if that is what we aim at, or to simply the pleasant things of life; I now recall my high school class and though I am now more than ever certain of the capabilities of all my dear friends and classmates to attain high grades, even A's by all of them, the difference wasn't on their capabilities but in our choices, our desires and wants; not all wanted an A I realize now, some were content with simply having passing grades, some were thrilled with B's and some simply didn't care at all, that part of their education did not matter to them. The years have passed and gladly some of our attitudes towards learning have changed, some of my friends who did not considered our high school years that important went on to change and become doctors and lawyers, to learn to like school and learning, they exposed themselves to it, they learned to enjoy it. I am glad for change, for our ability to change our minds.

It seems as if the choice of what to get ourselves into it is the key again, the freedom to even like or learn to dislike something is ours. How to choose to like the "good things" of life? that is a question for another day.