I can think of a reason - humans are vision oriented. If we want to know
more about something, we look at it, we hold images in our head. Taste
strongly interacts with our other senses, so, while we have 4 basic tastes
(OK, maybe 5), our sense of flavor comes from taste, smell, vision,
texture, temperature, etc. We often say, gee that food looks good. Because,
while taste is critical, if it doesn't look good, we don't want to eat it
(or find it less appealing).
Oh, BTW, we tech. have fewer types of receptors for vision than for smell.
3 cones, 1 rod for vision, 4 basic ways of tasting, and, at last count, at
least 1,000 binding proteins for smell.
At 08:54 AM 2/23/01 -0500, Michael J. Kane wrote:
>Hi Tipsters,
>
>Although the question below came to me from one of my friends, not one of my
>students, it's interesting and I can't answer it. Any ideas from S&P or
>language experts?
>
>-Mike
>
>>I think I asked you this before, but why do we have so many names for
>>colors, but so few for smell and taste? It could be argued that smell and
>>taste are at least as important to humans as sight, at least in an
>>evolutionary sense, right? And there are at least as many different kinds of
>>receptors for smell and taste as there are for vision, right?
>>
>>Yet, you don't hear people say, "That shirt is colored like a tree." But you
>>do hear, "That smells like citrus." Or the ever-popular, "That tastes like
>>chicken." If I asked you what color my carpet was, you could give me a one
>>word answer, and it would be an adjective. But if I said, what does an old
>>book smell like, what do you say? Or, how does the flavor of grouper differ
>>from the flavor of an apple?
>
>************************************************
>Michael J. Kane
>Department of Psychology
>P.O. Box 26164
>University of North Carolina at Greensboro
>Greensboro, NC 27402-6164
>email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>phone: 336-256-1022
>fax: 336-334-5066
>
Deb
Dr. Deborah S. Briihl
Dept. of Psychology and Counseling
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, GA 31698
(229) 333-5994
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/dbriihl/
Well I know these voices must be my soul...
Rhyme and Reason - DMB
