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Do You Like the Taste of Beer?

February 8, 2011, 10:55 pm

Who knew that this was the key question to ask on a first date.

The simplicity / complexity question is also interesting as a predictor of political views.  I prefer simplicity but apparently must subconsciously seek complexity because that is what I seem to get.  Does that make me libertarian?  A libertarian would argue that both liberals and conservatives act, at least in the political arena, from a deep hatred of complexity, or at least unpredictability.  You can't really love capitalism without being able to accept chaos  (chaos in the sense of "unpredictable, bottom-up, unregulated and uncontrolled," not the more nihilistic Road Warrior connotation).

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  • Rolfe Glover

    "There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point complexity is fraud. You can apply that rule to left-wing social programs but you can also apply that rule to credit derivatives, hedge funds, all the rest of it,"

    P. J. O'Rourke

  • Maureen

    Or it could just be a tastebud maturity question, an ethnic upbringing question, or even an alcoholism question. Most kids are preprogrammed by nature to shun things that are even a tiny bit bitter or potentially toxic, and to love tastes that adults find cloyingly sweet. My parents gave us sips of beer and wine during childhood on many occasions, and of course began serving us wine with formal dinners when we became teenagers; but it took a long time for that natural dislike to wear off, all the same. Beer took the longest; I tolerated but didn't like its taste until some brewing and vintning friends made me taste-test all sorts of beers one summer when I was nearly thirty. (Whereas I started to like wine and whisky in my late teens, but have now largely lost my taste for wine as my sense of smell is largely gone.)

  • IgotBupkis, President, United Anarchist Society

    I have to say that, for me at least, these questions are mostly going to give the wrong answer.

    Will my date have sex on the first date?
    I'd consider it. I've done it. And no, I can't stand beer.

    Do you prefer the people in your life to be simple or complex?
    Complex, hands down. I'm libertarian, but if I was going to limit my choices to the two provided, it'd mostly be conservative.

    Do spelling and grammar mistakes annoy you?
    Oh, F***, yeah. And I'm pretty much a 100% Deist.
    As far as my writing level, well, in 12th grade my reading/writing level was already @ 3rd year college capability. That was a fair number of years ago, and I write one hell of a lot better now than I did then.

    I'm curious about the possibility for sample bias in this.
    Clearly, one possible source of bias is "willing to use OKCupid dating services"... and if these three questions are even vaguely representative:
    If you were to be eaten by cannibal, how would you like to be prepaired?
    do u own 3 or more dildos in your room?
    Do you hsve a desent job?
    I'd say I'm not impressed by the intellectual talents to be found there.
    "Skewing stupid" isn't going to give a particularly useful result if you aren't stupid.

  • spiro

    I think it's a pretty simple correlation.

    Chicks who like beer = more likely to drink and let their guard down = easier to seduce.

    Dudes ALL want sex, and some of them like beer too.

  • NL

    A rightwing-Republican-turned-anarchocapitalist marries a Democrat and that's simplicity? :D

  • morganovich

    so the place to meet girls is a beer festival?

  • Pat Moffitt

    Simple algorithms often lie beneath complex self organizing systems. The complexity of life we may say stems from a simple command- survive. Everything that follows is strategy operating as deterministic chaos.(The invisible hand)

    You are quite correct- most ideologies (political and religious) need to sell an unchanging or linear world. Why -is a really good question.

  • bgeek

    A better question regarding sex.
    Do you like the taste of semen?

  • smurfy

    So Maureen, are more or less likely to sleep with someone on the first date now that you like beer?

    "Do spelling and grammar mistakes annoy you?" - Not as much as Microsoft's attempts to correct my spelling and grammar. Guess I'm just an anarchotypist (damn you for underlining that in red squiggle).

  • smurfy

    "Should Evolution and Creationism be taught side-by-side in schools?"

    Ironically, according to the charts n' graphs, those most likely to answer yes can't write well enough to compose that question.

  • Dr. T

    morganovich asks: "so the place to meet girls is a beer festival?"

    That's the best place to meet gals who are most likely to get drunk enough to have sex with a guy they just met.

  • Ryan

    Wow, single people can't write. I wunder what the natonal avrage writng profishnc iz.

  • http://hertzlinger.blogspot.com Joseph Hertzlinger

    For some reason, the four questions they used to illustrate politics were on issues where my opinions are either straightforwardly liberal or leaning liberal ... even despite the fact that I'm usually considered to be a reactionary wingnut.

  • Smock Puppet

    > Wow, single people can’t write. I wunder what the natonal avrage writng profishnc iz.

    Avtur fyv dekaydZ ov pozt-modrin lybrul Pubilikk Edumakation, it iz vuri lo.

    Iz evn betr naow thet The Byg 0 haz givven uz owr prappr bowndreez.

  • Elliot

    Like lying, misspelling is a way of taking personal reponsability for the truth.