Last week, we discussed in class that if you blindfolded yourself and pinched your nose tightly, you would not be able to taste the difference between a raw potato and an apple. This is because you cannot taste, and the way things smell and look effect how it tastes. This is due to our expectations, which often make a difference in how we perceive something.
So, over shabbos, Rachel E. Tsuna and I decided to experiment. We peeled an apple and a raw potato, and then cut them into similar sizes and shapes. We took turns blindfolding one another, and as one was blindfolded and pinching their nose into nonexistence, the other would pick a piece of apple and a piece of potato for the blindfolded person to eat.
It was so cool- we could not taste the difference between the apple and the potato! However, our apple was to soft and when we ate it we could tell it was an apple and not a potato. Of course, they both tasted the same, as we could not really tell the difference. Rachel had no problem swallowing the potato. However, when I ate the potato, even though it did not taste gross or anything, I had a hard time swallowing once I realized it was potato because just the thought of eating a raw potato was disturbing.
But you really cannot tell the difference! If the apple were harder, we would never have known.
This says a lot about the way our senses work. Seeing and smelling can effect taste, as can our expectations. Try this experiment yourself to see how cool it is.
*i would like to note: Someone thought it would be funny to put hot sauce on the apple/potato slice when I was blindfolded, and I could DEFINITELY taste the hot sauce. Even though I could not see or smell...
So, over shabbos, Rachel E. Tsuna and I decided to experiment. We peeled an apple and a raw potato, and then cut them into similar sizes and shapes. We took turns blindfolding one another, and as one was blindfolded and pinching their nose into nonexistence, the other would pick a piece of apple and a piece of potato for the blindfolded person to eat.
It was so cool- we could not taste the difference between the apple and the potato! However, our apple was to soft and when we ate it we could tell it was an apple and not a potato. Of course, they both tasted the same, as we could not really tell the difference. Rachel had no problem swallowing the potato. However, when I ate the potato, even though it did not taste gross or anything, I had a hard time swallowing once I realized it was potato because just the thought of eating a raw potato was disturbing.
But you really cannot tell the difference! If the apple were harder, we would never have known.
This says a lot about the way our senses work. Seeing and smelling can effect taste, as can our expectations. Try this experiment yourself to see how cool it is.
*i would like to note: Someone thought it would be funny to put hot sauce on the apple/potato slice when I was blindfolded, and I could DEFINITELY taste the hot sauce. Even though I could not see or smell...
ok first of all i would just like to say-WOW!!
ReplyDeleteim so amazed you did this experiment(even though it was super rude of you to do it without me)and that it actually worked. When i sat in class i was like to myself:"there is no way this experiment can actually work!The apple tastes soooo much better and juicier, etc." Even when we ate somewhere over Shabbat and told them about it, the twenty people at the table all disagreed! Its so interesting to see how wrong we are and that we are overconfident about things we know nothing about. In addition, i like that all our senses must work together in order to fulfill our to-down processing and meet our expectations.
When we talked about this in class I didn't actually think it was true, and now I'm just amazed! Carmit, it's so true that our overconfidence really does play in to it! Zahava, kudos for testing out the experiment! It's really cool how our expectations can change everything! You know when your birthday is coming up and all you do is think about how much fun it's going to be and then it actually happens and it stinks?! This is why sometimes I expect less so I'm not disappointed in the end. Even though this doesn't really have to do with your senses it really shows how expectations play a huge role in out lives.
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