Have you ever really tasted cheese?

[GEddie]

I guess this is another way of saying, how can we trust what our senses report to our brain?

It doesn’t matter, as we have no other way of knowing. That is the central issue of being human.

Even “spiritual experiences” take the form of sensory (name removed by moderator)uts that we learn through our physical body.

ICXC NIKA

 

[tomarin]

It doesn’t matter, as we have no other way of knowing. That is the central issue of being human.

Even “spiritual experiences” take the form of sensory (name removed by moderator)uts that we learn through our physical body.

ICXC NIKA

I wouldn’t say it doesn’t matter; it seems like a legitimate question about epistemology. But I would say I can’t imagine an answer that would satisfy a real philosopher.

 

[tomarin]

By the way, an appreciation of cheese is at least partly culturally conditioned. People from Asia generally don’t like cheese much, especially the stinky cheeses that smell a bit like feet. I wonder if Asian people who don’t like cheese are experiencing something different from what Westerners who enjoy cheese do?

 

[TimothyH]

By the way, an appreciation of cheese is at least partly culturally conditioned. People from Asia generally don’t like cheese much, especially the stinky cheeses that smell a bit like feet. I wonder if Asian people who don’t like cheese are experiencing something different from what Westerners who enjoy cheese do?

Perhapse they get their fill of stinky food with that rotting fish in a barrel stuff I hear they eat. Westerners don’t enjoy that.

By the way…

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him … Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick, three measures of bran flour! Knead it and make bread.” He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then he got some curds and milk, as well as the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them, waiting on them under the tree while they ate. (Genesis 18:1-2,6-8)*

Apparently the Trinity (as they appeared to Abraham) liked cheese, or at a minimum they ate the congealed yogurty type dairy “Curds” substance to be polite or so as not to cause scandal.

-Tim-

 

[SonCatcher]

Perhapse they get their fill of stinky food with that rotting fish in a barrel stuff I hear they eat. Westerners don’t enjoy that.

Obviously you’re unfamiliar with lutefisk - a western processed fish that is extremely strong.

More likely, cheese is unpopular due to lactose intolerance.

 

[tomarin]

Perhapse they get their fill of stinky food with that rotting fish in a barrel stuff I hear they eat. Westerners don’t enjoy that.

Sure – the reverse is also true. I wasn’t trying to suggest that those Asians who don’t like cheese are superior. In fact I love cheese personally.

As far as the Trinity goes well who is would argue with the Trinity?

 

[Speedypizza]

What I find odd is how different the tastes and smells of my dogs are from me. For example, one of their favorite treats are pig tails I buy from a feed store. They smell so bad I have them double bagged so they do not stink up my car, and only let my dogs eat them outside! To me they smell like rotten pig, however to my dogs, the smell is more attractive then bacon!

 

[Trishie]

How do you know that the taste of cheese corresponds to the objective nature of physical cheese. And if it does not correspond, would that not suggest that the taste of cheese is not physical?

Certainly, I have tasted cheeses that my mind interprets as a particular set of tastes I associate with cheese. How cheese interprets in your mind is your own personal experience! I have only my own awareness, as do you have only your own. We have some human characteristics in common but my experience and interpretation and yours is unique to ourselves…even though there is a spectrum of taste along which we would agree!

Now to the fridge for a slice of extra-sharp tasty cheese! That will provide proof positive, at least to me, that cheese has objective reality. You go get your own piece of cheese!

 

[Michael19682]

I wouldn’t say it doesn’t matter; it seems like a legitimate question about epistemology. But I would say I can’t imagine an answer that would satisfy a real philosopher.

I was in a restaurant the other day and observed a man eating food that smelled like it was already digested. It brought tears to my eyes, as a moment before I considered requesting the same thing (from the buffet).

So I guess the true test is if the cheese falls to the floor and you subsequently cry. Then you know you have violated the edict in the proveb, “don’t cry over spilt milk.”

 

[inocente]

How do you know that the taste of cheese corresponds to the objective nature of physical cheese. And if it does not correspond, would that not suggest that the taste of cheese is not physical?

Cheese tastes different when you have a cold because your nasal passages swell shut and put those nerves out of action, and only the nerves in your mouth keep working. So the taste is partly objective (molecules of cheese) and partly subjective (how your brain interprets the available data).

 

[tomarin]

Perhapse they get their fill of stinky food with that rotting fish in a barrel stuff I hear they eat. Westerners don’t enjoy that.

By the way…

The LORD appeared to Abraham by the oak of Mamre, as he sat in the entrance of his tent, while the day was growing hot. Looking up, he saw three men standing near him … Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick, three measures of bran flour! Knead it and make bread.” He ran to the herd, picked out a tender, choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it. Then he got some curds* and milk, as well as the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them, waiting on them under the tree while they ate. (Genesis 18:1-2,6-8)

Apparently the Trinity (as they appeared to Abraham) liked cheese, or at a minimum they ate the congealed yogurty type dairy “Curds” substance to be polite or so as not to cause scandal.

-Tim-

There were things that were popular in Taiwan when I lived there that I could never get over the smell of – namely stinky tofu, which is sold on carts in the street. Also in Japan there’s a delicacy called natto which is fermented bean curd. I tried it once but the appearance and the texture are pretty off-putting. So you’re right. What one culture finds delicious another finds disgusting. That was my point, actually.

 

[GEddie]

Cheese tastes different when you have a cold because your nasal passages swell shut and put those nerves out of action, and only the nerves in your mouth keep working. So the taste is partly objective (molecules of cheese) and partly subjective (how your brain interprets the available data).

The same is true for all tastes, which in human life are really mostly smell. When one’s nose does not work, all tastes are somewhat suppressed.

Presumably, critters in which the 2 senses are physically separated would experience them differently (we can’t know).

Tangentially, a medical friend of mine has remarked that our nose is the only human sense that connects directly to our mind (via the very short olfactory nerve); the other human senses routing first through the brain stem. Could it be we should really follow our noses???

 

[DCNBILL]

Which cheese?

And of a deeper philosophical significance;

Does the cheese really stand alone?

 

[GEddie]

The early bird may get the worm, but it’s the 2nd mouse that gets the cheese.