taste long game

The curator relationship operates at a fundamentally different psychological level than advertising. An algorithm might know you like blue Oxford shirts, but a tastemaker knows why a particular blue Oxford matters in a lineage of blue Oxfords. This contextual knowing, placing objects in historical and cultural frameworks rather than recommendation... See more

Your edge isn’t working harder on familiar ground. It’s standing on different ground entirely. The chef who’s only tasted one cuisine can’t recognize greatness. The designer who’s only seen this decade’s trends can’t spot what’s next. Range sharpens judgment. Range creates taste. 9

The problem here is our obsession with popularity. We’ve been imbued with popularity contests since the beginning of our social lives. We’ve been primed to assess cultural output by how many others liked it. Movie and music studios, fashion conglomerates, publishers, social media, and other cultural industries generate efficient formulas to create... See more

Algorithmic mediocrity has triggered a renaissance of human discernment, with consumers seeking trusted curators, insider communities, and editorial voices that offer genuine discovery.

Taste is judgment without complete information. It’s knowing when to break the pattern you just established. It’s feeling that something is about to feel tired before the numbers show it. And it’s the last thing AI can’t do.

Humans own the right side of the spectrum - the obscure, the instinctive, the “what if.” AI is trapped on the left, optimizing... See more

Her call to "redefine cool by championing our otherness" positions authentic self-expression as a political act. The personal rejection of algorithmic determinism becomes part of a larger movement reclaiming human agency in multiple domains.