Psychology of What's Best

Gardenlover

Gardenlover

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OMG - this is the best chocolate I've ever eaten.
This wine is to die for.
It's on the best seller's list.
It had a 99% 5 star rating on Amazon/Google reviews.

If an expert presented you with a $30 dollar piece of chocolate or a $750 bottle of wine, etc. and told you it was the best they have ever had, would it influence your perspective of the value of the item?

A couple of examples:
A friend and I were discussing the folly of fashion over drinks and he said, "I don't follow the latest fashions, I set them."

During one gathering of close friends I poured the contents of a $19 bottle of wine into a decanter and later boasted to my guests that it was a $75 bottle of wine. I asked all in attendance to hold their comments regarding the wine until we finished the decanter. As I was pouring the last glass of wine - I confessed that it was my typical $19 bottle of wine. An enjoyable conversation followed on the psychology of what we consider to be best.

Do you typically go with the majority opinion or do you blaze your own trail? Why?
 

Gardenlover said:
Do you typically go with the majority opinion or do you blaze your own trail? Why?
Click to expand...
...because my own perceptions and thoughts are what's important to me.
Lol, years ago a buddy & I were going to paint the town, he had a date lined up, but didn't show up. So we decided to drink up the super expensive bottle of ??? that he had paid like $150+ for. I don't remember what it was, except that it tasted like floor stripper. :cautious:
Moral of the story: nobody can convince me of the value of something if it isn't valuable to me.
 

I have always blazed my own trail? I found to much BS following behind others. I will say I have learned a lot from others experiences though.
 
I can’t say for sure that it would influence me. Consciously, I think that I could ignore the cost but subconsciously, I might be influenced. All I know is is that a coke from the fountain at a fast food restaurant that costs $1.25 tastes the same as one purchased in a movie theater for $10. But wines and chocolates can vary more than Pepsi and Coke, I guess.
 
The psychology of what’s best sounds interesting to me. I blaze my own trail and listen to the majority opinion. If the majority opinion sounds better than mine, I will go the majority way. For example, the difference in wine prices, buying high-cost wine is that better psychology. The high cost of wine could reflect the manner in which it was refined. More undesirable chemicals could have been removed from the wine. The low-cost wine could have undesirable chemicals in it. To taste them they may both taste fine but the after-effects could be different. So, the psychology of what’s best could be taken two ways. Is the quality of the wine the best or is the lower cost of the wine the best?
 
Some people equate the "best" with how expensive something is. That ain't necessarily so. What's "best" is subjective. Your "best" might not be my "best".

Tell me what you want about anything. I boogaloo to my own beat, baby.dance3 I'll decide what's "best" for me. My taste buds are my guide.
 
I would say I'm a combination of both. I loved big bell bottom blue jeans in my youth, but no longer wore them when the majority of folks felt they were no longer in style. I'd like to think I march to the beat of my own drum, but then peer pressure has some influence in my life choices, but naturally not in all cases.

As a teen, I remember my dad asking me why I was growing my hair so long (back when I had hair). I replied I was letting my hair grow long because I wanted to be different. He laughed and said, "Okay." Many of the kids at that time where wearing their hair long - so I wasn't really being as different as I thought I was.
 
I was once given a bottle of wine and told by the guy who brought it back from wherever he had been on holiday that it was a bit special or expensive, so I dutifully kept it to one side for a couple of years, thinking I'd find a day when celebrations were in order and then open it.

Its hard to say exactly what happened when I opened it, (not least because I wasn't sure I'd opened the right bottle of wine when it came to be opened), but if it was the right bottle then it was nothing to write home about even when compared to the rest of the wine I'd normally choose at the supermarket.

However, I have had the opposite experience too, when had good wine sent to me through my employers, so my conclusion is my neighbour who cracked his wine up to be something special didn't know a good wine from an average one, (or was choosing to pass something off as special when it wasn't).

I do think there's a tendency to be influenced when you've been told something is more expensive, or its better presented than normal, but there are other factors to consider when it comes to wine aren't there, ("how well it travels" used to be said didn't it, how well you've stored it, whether you let it air properly before drinking, and maybe your mood when you're supping it!).

Whatever the case might be I find most wine starts to taste okay after the first few glasses, (not that I'm much of s drinker these days you understand :) ).
 
If someone told me an edible was super expensive or the best, I might wonder why I am I not loving this? :ROFLMAO: I do make up my own mind, regardless, especially when it comes to fashion or food or real estate, but that said, I naturally do like the best of everything in life so I might agree with them not because of what they say, but because I sincerely think so.
 
Gardenlover said:
Do you typically go with the majority opinion or do you blaze your own trail? Why?
Click to expand...
Hmmmm
Expensive food...drinks

Had a nip of brie once
preceded to consume the entire block
....got sick

Folks have handed me the rare foods, drinks, cigars
It's OK, I s'pose
I certainly don't go rushing out to get mine

I now enjoy just sampling the finer things
Like Oreo cookies
You see the price of those today?
 
Gary O' said:
Hmmmm. Expensive food...drinks
Had a nip of brie once, preceded to consume the entire block ...got sick

Folks have handed me the rare foods, drinks, cigars
It's OK, I s'pose
I certainly don't go rushing out to get mine

I now enjoy just sampling the finer things
Like Oreo cookies
You see the price of those today?
Click to expand...
No one "in their right mind" consumes an entire block of brie, first time you'd tasted a wee nip or not, just can't happen, not possible to eat that much,...., well unless to satisfy a bet, where you've wagered your house on it.

Now a nip of fine Irish whiskey, (or Scotch), is a different matter, could see anyone with a robust constitution getting carried away and consuming the whole bottle, (though not to be recommended either due to both short and possibly long term consequences/repercussions :) ).
 
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