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by ransom1538 1296 days ago
"it'd be easy for me to look down upon those with less developed palates"

I live in florida. There are people here that literally carry Sriracha sauce in their car. I will have people over for breakfast [eggs, bacon, toast, muffins], they will go to their car, and pour Sriracha sauce all over their eggs. It's pretty normal for them to put it on everything they eat. Eating just a potato seems strange to them, it needs that burning sensation. I think it is almost the opposite of a developed palate - it's more like they lost their ability to detect and enjoy simple flavors. Like an alcoholic that can't be in a social setting without liquor.

1 comments

>alcoholic

I think that's the keyword here. The behavior you're describing does sound very dependent, but those dependent on alcohol are a minority. I don't have numbers on capsaicin, but I'd be comfortable betting that the need to spice everything is also not the norm.

If taste and flavor preference is largely environmental as is argued, it makes sense that extremes exist on the edges.