Is there such a thing as good taste?
Paul Graham’s essay simplified for 10-year-olds and above
This is my humble attempt to adapt this essay by Paul Graham for those who’d like a simpler version. I tried my best to retain the original. Hope you and your kids gain from it as much as we did!
When I asked my kids, they said there isn’t such a thing as good taste. People like different things. Who’s to say who’s right?
It sounded logical but we tried to pass it through a small test. My kids recently learned about the Strawman fallacy. It’s a form of an informal argument. To refute an opposing viewpoint, make it weaker by exaggerating it. If we make the statement, “There’s no such thing as good taste” weaker, it will automatically make the statement, “There is such a thing as good taste” stronger. So, we pulled a strawman as follows.
If there is no such thing as good taste, it would mean there is no such thing as good art, good food, good anything creative…It’s only a matter of personal preference. A painting by a professional artist is no good from that of a randomly chosen 8-year old. And a dish prepared by a Michelin star chef is no good from that of someone boiling water for the first time.
Why just art and food? The same logic can be applied to all creative fields. If you are a copywriter with 10 years of experience, your copy is no better than that of a noob writer. If you are an experienced UX designer, your designs are no good than what my kids can design in Canva.
That doesn’t seem quite right, does it? Good designs, good stories, good food exists. Good designers, good writers, good chefs exist. Those who like the design of a seasoned designer more than the 5-min Canva art by kids must have good taste in design. Those who like the food prepared by a professional chef better must have good taste in food. Good taste must exist.
Why is it that people think it doesn’t exist? There are three reasons.
People don’t see it when they don’t want to see it
Those who don’t care about a subject disregard its nuisances. They fail to see the finer details. e.g., if I can’t tell a $5 wine from a $5000 wine, doesn’t mean the difference doesn’t exist. It just means that I don’t care enough to put my senses to use.
You don’t care doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Only if I start to pay attention, look closely to get a sense of the depth of its color, give the glass a swirl, sniff, and sip to try to identify the fragrances…will I start to appreciate what good taste in the wine means.
To acquire a good taste, you need the ability to sense the finer details. To sense the finer details, you need to care enough to look for them.
People think what they’re supposed to think
Two, our tastes aren’t solely driven by our own minds. We are swayed by biases like the Authority Bias (We are influenced by the opinion of authority figures) and the Bandwagon effect (Ideas, fads, and beliefs grow as most people adopt them).
Our mind is rarely acting in isolation when we are forming an opinion about a creative piece.
Is the artist famous? Is the work attractive? What do others think about it? Am I supposed to like it?
Most people’s response to art and other creative work is driven by the above factors.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder…
then what’s in the art?
The conundrum goes like this. Imagine several people looking at a work of art and judging how good it is. The goodness of the art is supposed to be inside the art. But, it seems like something happens inside the minds of observers. If they disagree on the goodness, how do you choose between them?
To solve this conundrum, you need to realize that in spite of having disagreements, humans have a lot in common. Art is supposed to work on its human audience. If it can impact the emotions of most humans on some level, it has done its job.
A vaccine works on the human immune system. Immunity is something that develops inside the human body. Sure, people’s immune systems vary. A vaccine that worked on one might not work on another. It doesn’t mean we stop talking about the effectiveness of the vaccine. In fact, we keep developing the vaccine that works on most humans.
Good art leaves its impact on most humans. Most humans from all times would stare in awe at The Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Art doesn’t work exactly like a vaccine, of course. You can’t measure its effectiveness by simply taking a vote.
Art needs two more things to work besides what’s inside the art itself — the ability to see the finer details and clarity of mind to ignore the biases at play.
Even then, there will always be some difference in opinions. So while it’s not possible to have perfect taste, it is possible to have good taste.
