notes on notes on taste
Taste has historically been reserved for conversation about things like fashion and art. Now, we look for it in our social media feeds, the technology we use, the company we keep, and the people we hire.
Brie Wolfson • Notes on “Taste”
tracking the change from something esoteric to something commonplace, thus this essay to help define it better
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”
stating clearly why defining taste is worthwhile
While taste is often focused on a single thing, it is often formed through the integration of diverse, and wide-ranging inputs. Steve Jobs has said, “I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians and poets and artists and zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists... See more
Brie Wolfson • Notes on “Taste”
Taste is about preference. When someone has "good taste" they have well-refined preferences. Taste sounds like a snotty term that a sommelier uses, but we all have tastes, even if we're not talking about taste in full-bodied reds from Northern Italy. We have taste in music, taste in design, and taste in literature (even if your literature is banger... See more
Samantha Marin • Metalabels will be the tastemakers of the internet
My observation of the Brat cycle is that most people have never looked up the lyrics to this album — it’s unambiguous that Brat is about... doing drugs in the club ( “Should we do a little key?” ). It’s noteworthy when the right-wing criticism of a thing is more apt than the the left-wing co-opters.
Emily Sundberg • Hard to do key bumps when homework is due
I’ve been thinking about the enduring, perhaps increasing currency of personal recommendations (practically artisanal craft now if you think about it!) as well as the value of connoisseurship and curation in a culture where unthinking automation has left us feeling drowned in a deluge of content.
I suspect that’s the core appeal of all the... See more
I suspect that’s the core appeal of all the... See more
well lol i finally got laid off...but on the bright side.......
curation is the move
You probably already have an intuitive sense of the people in your life who have great taste in something. They’re the people you always go to for restaurant or movie or gear recommendations. Maybe it’s the person you ask to be an extra set of eyes on an email or a project brief before you send it out.
Brie Wolfson • Notes on “Taste”
i like addressing the reader by ‘you’ here
The ineffably of taste
Still, taste is closely intertwined with snobbery. And indeed, many snobs (coffee snobs, gear snobs, wine snobs, etc.) often have great taste. But I would say that taste is the sensibility, and snobbery is one way to express the sensibility. It’s not the only way.