One of my (many) contrarian beliefs is that we do not have s...

One of my (many) contrarian beliefs is that we do not have strong enough preferences. We often blame social media or the speed of information as the reason why we’re easily distracted, but the real reason behind our inability to focus has less to do with the sheer quantity of media and more to do with our laziness when it comes to distinguishing what to focus on amidst a sea of worldly thrills. We have nothing deeply purposeful to anchor ourselves to, and, as a result, our standards for pleasure have dropped to zero, and our focus remains fuzzy and shallow. Taste, by definition, is the ability to be decisive about what you like and what you don’t like, and exclusively seek out the first. In other words, good taste is a sign of good judgment. Want to have good taste? Get comfortable with saying ‘no’.

One of my (many) contrarian beliefs is that we do not have strong enough preferences. We often blame social media or the speed of information as the reason why we’re easily distracted, but the real reason behind our inability to focus has less to do with the sheer quantity of media and more to do with our laziness when it comes to distinguishing what to focus on amidst a sea of worldly thrills. We have nothing deeply purposeful to anchor ourselves to, and, as a result, our standards for pleasure have dropped to zero, and our focus remains fuzzy and shallow.

Taste, by definition, is the ability to be decisive about what you like and what you don’t like, and exclusively seek out the first. In other words, good taste is a sign of good judgment. Want to have good taste? Get comfortable with saying ‘no’.

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Knowing what matters to you brings clarity to your decision making and enables you to then do the really important work of saying no to many (maybe even most) things and focusing your attention and energy exclusively on the things that matter most to you.

Dave Asprey • Game Changers

In a word, we’ve struggled for two years to find someone with taste—with an eye for what stands the chance of being interesting, entertaining, or useful to an audience.

We’re not alone. I’ve talked to authors, podcasters, documentarians, late-night TV writers, YouTubers and TikTokers, and they all share this problem. Most of these creators are

Billy Oppenheimer • The Cup of Coffee Theory of AI

“If you want to win the war for attention, don’t try to say ‘no’ to the trivial distractions you find on the information smorgasbord; try to say ‘yes’ to the subject that arouses a terrifying longing, and let the terrifying longing crowd out everything else.”

Cal Newport • Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Convenience culture seduces us into imagining that we might find room for everything important by eliminating only life’s tedious tasks. But it’s a lie. You have to choose a few things, sacrifice everything else, and deal with the inevitable sense of loss that results.

Oliver Burkeman • Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Notes on “Taste” | Are.na Editorial

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But I also believe taste is something we can and should try to cultivate. Not because taste itself is a virtue, per se, but because I’ve found a taste-filled life to be a richer one. To pursue it is to appreciate ourselves, each other, and the stuff we’re surrounded by a whole lot more.

Brie Wolfson • Notes on “Taste”

taste > skills taste seems more scarce these days, and increasingly differentiating in the age of AI where so much of skills-based productivity is offloaded to compute. makes me think about the development of taste, and how we nurture taste for the next gen of humans.

scott belsky

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