David_Gerard comments on Absolute denial for atheists - Less Wrong

39 Post author: taw 16 July 2009 03:41PM

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Comment author: David_Gerard 03 June 2011 12:51:40PM *  5 points [-]

I completely agree with your assertion. As an avid drinker, I find that I don't like drinks that taste nice nearly as much as ones that don't. The taste seems to me to be a signal of alcoholic effect; alcopops (sweet and alcoholic) get it wrong one way, and <1% alcohol beer gets it wrong the other way.

That said, I do like some beers better than others. Hoppy rather than fruity is good, for instance.

I recall reading somewhere on LessWrong that a highly effective way to stop eating chocolate is to get a pound of M&Ms and put them in your mouth and chew them up and taste them, then spit them out, and after a while chocolate will taste awful. This would suggest there's a lot more to liking foods than just what your taste buds (and sense of smell) say.

Edit: And how could I forget coffee. Tastes terrible in itself - decaf is utterly missing the point - but taste+buzz is something one can have strong and even discussable personal preferences on, and I just had my morning cup of something awful and went "mmmm, coffee."

Comment author: SilasBarta 03 June 2011 02:00:46PM 2 points [-]

Interesting. Btw, why did my old comment suddenly get two replies?

Comment author: David_Gerard 03 June 2011 02:18:47PM *  4 points [-]

Well, I've been systematically (if desultorily) reading all of LW from the beginning. So I got to your comment and, given the local norm that it's just fine to respond to a comment or post from years ago, responded to it. I presume bcoburn saw my comment in "Recent Comments", went to your original and felt like responding too.

Comment author: rhollerith_dot_com 03 June 2011 04:39:59PM 5 points [-]

Well, I've been systematically (if desultorily) reading all of LW from the beginning. So I got to your comment and . . .

Is that part of what you have referred to as "internet as television", David?

Comment author: David_Gerard 03 June 2011 08:17:39PM *  4 points [-]

Yep! Things to read while waiting for Tomcat to finish restarting ... if I'm going to use the Internet as a television, I want at least to be watching something good.

I got through the Sequences, and it occurred to me that I didn't really understand the history of the culture of LessWrong, let alone the history of the history. So I thought reading the lot would be a nice way to approximate that. And I'm finding some fantastic posts I would never have seen without doing this.

Comment author: bcoburn 03 June 2011 07:44:45PM 4 points [-]

This is, indeed, exactly what happened.

Comment author: David_Gerard 03 June 2011 08:20:46PM 3 points [-]

I'm eagerly awaiting years-later responses to my own early comments :-D

Comment author: taryneast 02 June 2014 07:11:02AM 2 points [-]

waves

Comment author: [deleted] 01 March 2014 09:37:17AM 2 points [-]
Comment author: [deleted] 01 March 2014 09:36:40AM 1 point [-]

Well, I've been systematically (if desultorily) reading all of LW from the beginning.

I am doing the same right now, BTW.

Comment author: Kutta 03 June 2011 08:27:32PM 2 points [-]

I wouldn't ever wanna stop eating chocolate, at least delicious 80+ percent cocoa chocolate. It has little sugar but plenty of quality fats and cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory polyphenols. It's still a bit addictive for some reason (flavor? phenylethylamine? theobromine? ) but if you eat quality chocolate daily, well, if you don't go really overboard I imagine it'd do you no harm.

Comment author: David_Gerard 03 June 2011 08:39:54PM 1 point [-]

It's a YMMV, sure. But I can see people who need to give the stuff up - though my internal model of other humans tells me they'd be horrified at the idea of doing something that would actually work to cut them off from chocolate.