Grasping for the Wind

My only problem with the whole argument of "taste" is that the word is so bloody arbitrary that there's really no point even using it. How do you determine what good taste is? It seems really stupid to try to tell people that their taste in something is wrong. I don't like country music, in fact, I hate it, but some people love it. Does that necessarily mean they have a worse taste in music than mine? No, it just means they have a different taste (though I would say they have worse taste, just because I'm like that...but I wouldn't be so bold as to try to force someone to adhere to my tastes in something.

Alternately, I think the author hasn't much of a clue what a good college environment is. Professors shouldn't be cramming personal tastes down your throat with the intention of telling you that your taste is wrong, they should be TEACHING you about whatever it is you're supposed to be learning. If you're taking a class on taste, then it makes sense, but I'm not going into debt with college loans just so I can have someone with a PhD. tell me that my taste in books is horribly. I got to learn more about literature, how to analyze it, how to address the texts, write essays, apply it to fiction. Taste doesn't factor in. If I want to know a Professor's personal taste, I'll ask. All I care about is what I'll be learning.

I think the author is trying to make the point that "taste" is not wholly arbitrary. For instance, we would think that a food critic would have a more refined papalate, and so would have better "taste". I think an author of science fiction will have better "taste" in scifi than I will. I would trust their judgement more becasue of their experience in determining good writing.

I don't think the author is saying that there cannot be different types of "taste". And besides, the reaction you had in your comment is exactly waht she is wants professors who say there is such thing as good and bad taste to provoke.

That is why she concludes with the line "And the professors who aren’t making students just a little uncomfortable about their tastes aren’t really doing their jobs."

I would hope that my taste can be more refined as I grow older and read more books. That my taste would get better. Not that I wouldn't like the same things, but that my ability to judge good from bad would become more skillful.

On another note, you have no taste for country music. That is okay, and your perogative, but would you say that there should be standards of good or bad within country music. Or within whatever type of music you like?

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