What does it mean to have taste?
I find we humans are quite interesting when it comes to what we call "taste". I recently was on YouTube (warning: you probably know where this is going) and on a rather harmless video I saw something that really made me think.
One (very highly rated) comment made a claim along the lines of (omg the game this song is from is way better than anything else made nowadays), you know some really pretentious and narrow-minded comment you're bound to see made by the average YouTube commenter. In response, a rather meek comment was made. A comment that only stated "not true". This comment was subsequently given so many negative votes that it became hidden and another commenter responded saying essentially (You are wrong and you have no taste.)
Whether or not who was wrong is entirely subjective of course, however it did get gears turning in my head. What does it mean to have taste? We say stuff like having good or bad taste as though all opinions from someone with good taste is true, and all opinions from someone with poor taste is not true. Even though it can be conflicting on how it is determined that someone has good taste or any taste.
I know I have done this, as I have constantly berated family members for having bad taste in music and movies, even though I like many things in those categories that they like as well. I mean it is easy to pick on people with unpopular opinions or with opinions that differ from our own, but what exactly defines what taste is? I've heard people downright insult film directors or comedians who are popular, and I've heard people stick up for whatever they like even if popular opinion says otherwise.
How do you guys define what it means to have taste? Or should the entire idea of taste be thrown out of our heads since opinions don't determine what is good or not, the subject being examined itself does.
One (very highly rated) comment made a claim along the lines of (omg the game this song is from is way better than anything else made nowadays), you know some really pretentious and narrow-minded comment you're bound to see made by the average YouTube commenter. In response, a rather meek comment was made. A comment that only stated "not true". This comment was subsequently given so many negative votes that it became hidden and another commenter responded saying essentially (You are wrong and you have no taste.)
Whether or not who was wrong is entirely subjective of course, however it did get gears turning in my head. What does it mean to have taste? We say stuff like having good or bad taste as though all opinions from someone with good taste is true, and all opinions from someone with poor taste is not true. Even though it can be conflicting on how it is determined that someone has good taste or any taste.
I know I have done this, as I have constantly berated family members for having bad taste in music and movies, even though I like many things in those categories that they like as well. I mean it is easy to pick on people with unpopular opinions or with opinions that differ from our own, but what exactly defines what taste is? I've heard people downright insult film directors or comedians who are popular, and I've heard people stick up for whatever they like even if popular opinion says otherwise.
How do you guys define what it means to have taste? Or should the entire idea of taste be thrown out of our heads since opinions don't determine what is good or not, the subject being examined itself does.