If your brain is designed to reward you for seeking out salts, sugars, and fats to stay alive, then why do radically different taste palettes between people exist? Shouldn’t taste preferences be similar across the species?
In: Biology
Many of them are, like the examples you gave. However, taste is also very much cultural and a product of the environment in which we developed. If we’re grow up eating a distinct variety of foods, and all of our dietary needs are met, then our taste is probably going to favor it.
In other words, taste can be variable as long as the nutritional needs are being satisfied. The world is a big place, with huge regional differences in available foods. Accordingly, the human palate is just as varied.
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