What's so great about beer?

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Mabye trying different drinks would be better suited for you.

JD and Coke. WKD or anything that's a fruit based drink. They all taste pretty good.

Maybe...but what's my motivation to do that instead of just drinking Coke or fruit juice? Is it the feeling all adult-y?

Not everybody becomes physically ill after drinking.

Well, clearly I doubt anything would be popular, let alone as popular as beer is, if it did that. But am I not having the same experience up to that point?

[Der_Lex]

I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do at all with beer (and variations of it) being a staple in the human diet since we went from being hunter gatherers to farmers.

I watched this thing on Discovery Channel (so the information might have been made up just to seem educational) called "How Beer Changed The World" and it asserts that beer has played an important role in human civilization.

One thing I remember from it was them talking about how in England, there was a time when the water was undrinkable do the amount of urine and feces humans were putting into the rivers that in order to stay hydrated they turned to beer and ales. The funny thing being that alcohol actually dehydrates the body, but what are you gonna do?

Oh, that's definitely a relevant factor for the popularity of both beer and wine as well. Relatively easy to make, gives you a nice buzz, and indeed a lot safer than water back in the days of yore. The fact that beer in this manner gained such a prominent place in the day to day lives of people is a very large reason of why it still has that position today, despite many cheap beverage alternatives being available. Tradition can be a powerful force in society.

I personally don't like the taste of beer or wine either, though, so I get where SheSaid is coming from in that regard. And since I don't care for coffee or tea much either, I end up drinking plain water in a lot of social situations where coke, ice tea or juices aren't on offer. However, I've never felt any social pressure to adapt, people generally accept it when you don't like something, no matter how common it is.

[RockBandRocker]

Personally, I found beer to be an acquired taste. When I first tried a beer, I spit it out because it tasted awful. However, when I tried it again later, I found that the more I drank it the more tasty it became.

As far as wine goes, a lot of people I know love red wine and I can't stand the stuff (too tart for my taste). If I drink a wine, it has to be a white or a blush.

Also, I can drink straight shots of tequila, vodka and rum (for example) while people I know can't shoot them at all and can only drink them if they're mixed in something or shoot with a chaser, which is just lame.

[Der_Lex]

I personally have trouble eating or drinking anything that's bitter, most likely because whatever I have that causes me to have barely any sense of smell messes with my sense of taste a little as well, and seems to amplify bitter tastes somehow (worst example ever was when a friend had made a huge fruit salad with only one blood orange in it, but somehow that was the only thing I could taste in the whole dish). That's why I like things like whiskey that are a bit sweeter, but beer and wine are too far along the bitter scale for me to enjoy.

[RockBandRocker]

I guess the answer to SheSaid's question is:

Ultimately, it all comes down to what the individual person finds "tasty"/"delicious".

[jibjqrkl]

is true though, the more you drink it. the better the taste becomes.

[Der_Lex]

I guess the answer to SheSaid's question is:

Ultimately, it all comes down to what the individual person finds "tasty"/"delicious".

Yeah, once you take all the societal factors and potential physical illness out of it, it really does boil down to 'Y U LIEK PARAMORE CIPHER?"

[SheSaidSheSaid]

I guess the answer to SheSaid's question is:

Ultimately, it all comes down to what the individual person finds "tasty"/"delicious".

Mmmk. Now I'm gonna wax philosophical like I was drunk off my ass

Are we all tasting the same thing? The taste I taste, I can't possibly conceive of anyone finding it pleasurable. Do people find that taste, which I find downright repugnant, enjoyable? Or do they get something different out of it? And this isn't just about beer - I have the same thoughts about just about all classic sandwich fixings. Mushrooms, tomatoes, pickles, mustard...all of it makes me want to retch. Yet they're popular for a reason, so do people like that feeling that makes me feel like retching, or do they get an entirely different experience, one that I might agree was pleasurable if I got it?

[Der_Lex]

The amount of pleasure derived from experiences and sensations does seem to be subjective, yes. That explains why one person can like a particular type of food/drink/music/book/film and the other can hate it. But whether the experience or sensation itself is subjective (ie: different for each person) is something we're simply not yet able to tell, because we lack the ability to truly describe sensations. I have no idea of knowing whether what you perceive as 'blue' is what I perceive as 'blue' either, for all I know it's what I perceive as 'red'. It's an old philosophical conundrum.

[RockBandRocker]

Are we all tasting the same thing? The taste I taste, I can't possibly conceive of anyone finding it pleasurable. Do people find that taste, which I find downright repugnant, enjoyable? Or do they get something different out of it? And this isn't just about beer - I have the same thoughts about just about all classic sandwich fixings. Mushrooms, tomatoes, pickles, mustard...all of it makes me want to retch. Yet they're popular for a reason, so do people like that feeling that makes me feel like retching, or do they get an entirely different experience, one that I might agree was pleasurable if I got it?

No, we don't all taste the same things.

First, everyone's tongues have different taste receptors and some are more sensitive to the taste sensations (sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami/savory) than others.

Second, if you have eaten or drunk something in the past and the experience was far from pleasant, you can develop taste aversion, so that when you are presented with that item again you will find it disgusting and want to retch.


(Who knew that I'd ever need to pull from my memory and use anything from those Biology and Psychology classes I took? Stay in school, kids. You just might learn something.)