--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is deciding what you like an instinct, a…" description: "\"Is deciding what you like an instinct, a sense that arrives as swiftly as my autoimmune response to cat dander? Or is it the result of reasoned conside..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rumaan-alam-5326_chocolate_is-deciding-what-you-like-an-instinct-a_2888324.jpg" --- # Is deciding what you like an instinct, a sense that… ![“Is deciding what you like an instinct, a sense that arrives as swiftly as my autoimmune response to cat dander? Or is it the result of reasoned consideration, the way wine tasters swish pinot noir around in their mouths, spit it out, and reach for complex metaphors about chocolate and tobacco?” quote by Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rumaan-alam-5326_chocolate_is-deciding-what-you-like-an-instinct-a_2888324.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rumaan-alam-5326_chocolate_is-deciding-what-you-like-an-instinct-a_2888324.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8a/rumaan-alam-5326_chocolate_is-deciding-what-you-like-an-instinct-a_2888324.jpg) > “Is deciding what you like an instinct, a sense that arrives as swiftly as my autoimmune response to cat dander? Or is it the result of reasoned consideration, the way wine tasters swish pinot noir around in their mouths, spit it out, and reach for complex metaphors about chocolate and tobacco?” [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Questions whether taste is instinctual or shaped by reasoned analysis, likening it to sensory evaluation. **In simple terms:** Taste can be instinct or learned. Key Takeaway Explore how instinct and reason shape preferences. Themes aesthetics identity choice analysis Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - food criticism - art appreciation - personal branding Key Concepts philosophy of taste cognitive psychology Questions to Reflect On - Do you trust gut feelings over analysis? - How does language shape your preferences? A Different Perspective Taste is subjective and culturally influenced. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Chocolate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chocolate/) [Deciding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deciding/) [Deciding Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deciding-like-4041928/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Instinct Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct-sense-4041927/) [Like Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-instinct-1575537/) [Pinot noir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pinot-noir/) [Result](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/result/) [Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense/) [Tobacco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tobacco/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [Good players develop a tactical instinct, a sense of what is possible or likely and what is not worth calculating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-reshevsky/good-players-develop-a-tactical-instinct-a-sense-of-what-is-possible/) [Samuel Reshevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-reshevsky/) > [If I hear a song that I like, my first instinct is to find out about who made it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-martin/if-i-hear-a-song-that-i-like-my-first-instinct-is-to-find-out-about/) [Chris Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-martin/) > [“...sometimes you have to enact arbitrary rules, strange and perhaps irrational guidelines to force yourself out of a way of life so habitual it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-logothetis/sometimes-you-have-to-enact-arbitrary-rules-strange-and-perhaps/) [Leon Logothetis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-logothetis/) > [I think the industry tends to like to think in the narrow sort of mindset of a businessman, and businessman absolutes, and movies really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-bird/i-think-the-industry-tends-to-like-to-think-in-the-narrow-sort-of/) [Brad Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-bird/) > [“Like...instinct?" At that Laurel flopped down on her back, a frustrated breath whooshing out of her. "Oh man, instinct, that's like the F-word in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aprilynne-pike/like-instinct-at-that-laurel-flopped-down-on-her-back-a-frustrated/) [Aprilynne Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aprilynne-pike/) > [Fashion is a language. Some know it, some learn it, some never will - like an instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/fashion-is-a-language-some-know-it-some-learn-it-some-never-will-like/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [Etel's poetry really changed everything. 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But Eurasia has only V. vinifera. And Eurasia is where wine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-rogers/north-and-central-america-have-thirty-species-of-vitis-china-has/) [Adam Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-rogers/) > [“Why are you so into Pinot?” 2 Maya asks. In the next 60 seconds of the movie, the character of Miles Raymond tells a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmine-gallo/why-are-you-so-into-pinot-2-maya-asks-in-the-next-60-seconds-of-the/) [Carmine Gallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmine-gallo/) > [“...for people like me, People Who Drink Too Much Pinot Noir and Dance Dance Dance. Always the Dancing. I drink Pinot Noir. I Dance.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-fenjves/for-people-like-me-people-who-drink-too-much-pinot-noir-and-dance/) [Pablo Fenjves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-fenjves/) > [“She kneeled down, opened the wine fridge, and scanned the shelves, filled with a variety of white wines. Sam began to pull each bottle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viola-shipman/she-kneeled-down-opened-the-wine-fridge-and-scanned-the-shelves/) [Viola Shipman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viola-shipman/) ## More by Rumaan Alam > [When you are what we call a 'minority writer,' a writer of color, a writer of any kind of difference, there is some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/when-you-are-what-we-call-a-minority-writer-a-writer-of-color-a/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [Fashion has underscored the interchangeability of men for a long time, maybe from the outset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/fashion-has-underscored-the-interchangeability-of-men-for-a-long-time/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [I've spent many hours of my life browsing in stores. At 21, I admired clothes I couldn't afford. At 30, I bought them. 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There's almost always some condescension…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/when-you-are-young-it-s-deeply-annoying-to-be-told-that-certain/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [Children's literature - the product of adult guesswork - often fails to account for its audience's slippery grasp on the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/children-s-literature-the-product-of-adult-guesswork-often-fails-to/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [“One of her most reached-for truisms was that some percentage of jobs were indistinguishable from one another, as they all involved the sending of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumaan-alam/one-of-her-most-reached-for-truisms-was-that-some-percentage-of-jobs/) [Rumaan Alam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumaan-alam/) > [Writing takes gall. 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