tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post5210184874935320509..comments2024-03-26T10:26:51.288-04:00Comments on Jim Leff's Slog: My 5.01 Curse (and The Flavor of America)Jim Leffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-4332214877009822282012-09-11T19:54:34.055-04:002012-09-11T19:54:34.055-04:00Yep, and it's a step in a scary direction.Yep, and it's a step in a scary direction.Paul Trapanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115978980920441288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-83719755981982028072012-09-11T14:33:43.324-04:002012-09-11T14:33:43.324-04:00Thanks, Paul.
So maybe terribly advanced and scar...Thanks, Paul.<br /><br />So maybe terribly advanced and scary things are being done to engineer taste perceptions of the product (it sounds paranoid and unlikely, but my understanding is that certain artificial sweeteners dont' actually taste sweet on your palate; rather, they somehow hack into your brain and make it directly perceive the sweetness).<br /><br />I may be sensitive to this. It may have left me Changed.<br /><br />Are you thinking what I'm thinking? It's the logical next step of <a href="http://jimleff.info/panera.html" rel="nofollow">the final-front battle I first recognized in the form of Panera</a>. Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-11029750729794018532012-09-11T13:53:53.506-04:002012-09-11T13:53:53.506-04:00The 5.01 made me think of a Wired article I just r...The 5.01 made me think of a Wired article I just read about high volume traders. These people are taking advantage of being able to execute trades microseconds quicker where they earn micropennies. They rely on algorithms and computers to make the actually trade as a human couldn't operate at that level. <br /><br /><a href="http://bit.ly/NpUjlz" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/NpUjlz</a><br /><br />It's the scary aspect of technology, statistical reasearch, etc., the drive towards ultra efficiency, the convergence of Budweiser and other American products to the minimum goodness.<br /><br />I also remember Bud being somewhere around a 3. It seems that they have been tweaking their formula through the years:<br /><br /><a href="http://bit.ly/PZQnuk" rel="nofollow">http://bit.ly/PZQnuk</a><br /><br />So maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but I take it as a sign that mass producers are figuring out how to make things just barely good enough. <br /><br />Not sure how this would affect the rest of your baseline, but the article above talks about Bud being engineered towards blandness and avoiding palate fatigue, so maybe it tripped some sort of palate circuit breaker.Paul Trapanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03115978980920441288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-16716527294349239312012-09-10T15:24:11.655-04:002012-09-10T15:24:11.655-04:00Also, it's important to bear in mind that this... Also, it's important to bear in mind that this is as much a rising as a sinking. I should not have enjoyed the Bud even as slightly as I did. THAT, really, was where the strangeness began. <br /><br />I was somehow hoisted somewhere, and got stuck there.<br />Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-79113173126017161612012-09-10T15:14:55.083-04:002012-09-10T15:14:55.083-04:00Good theory, thanks for posting, but, no, I'm ...Good theory, thanks for posting, but, no, I'm otherwise pretty normal (or was, anyway, until this happened!).<br /><br />And, in any case, beer's a blessed exception from the effect you describe, because, when it comes to enjoyment, beer makes its own gravy!Jim Leffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00007232702717055047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4640470443420164863.post-70919303791019676012012-09-10T15:07:32.032-04:002012-09-10T15:07:32.032-04:00There may be other explanations for this, consiste...There may be other explanations for this, consistent with all observed phenomena, that account for experiencing Bud and the exquisite microbrews as similar aesthetic experiences, without the Bud having been any sort of trigger or catalyst.<br /><br />Allow me to project wildly for a moment (my own experience is all I have to offer):<br /><br />Being even mildly depressed *profoundly* changes how I interact with food and drink... it doesn't just attenuate the pleasure response, but skews it weirdly. A "flattening" of the aesthetic response is exactly how I would describe it, and the 5.01 Syndrome has at least some echoes of that to me.<br /><br />You had skipped dinner in the first place. I don't know whether this is unusual for you, but this is something that I generally do only when very stressed or distracted. <br /><br />These are my experiences only, and may not map to your situation *at all*. But especially if you find this aesthetic flattening in other areas of life that give you pleasure (food, music, art, interactions with other people would be bellwethers for me) -- and you recognize that the inputs are good, but that your processing is askew -- you may want to look for other signs of depression or stress and consider your options.Barryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03420387509324434651noreply@blogger.com