November 12, 2006

When do we lose our taste for the new?

Adults: Do you find yourself listening to the same music you did when you were a teenager. Or in your 20s? Do you find yourself resistant to trying new foods?

If so, you are not alone. Neurobiologist Robert M. Sapolsky speculates about the reasons for this phenomenon. He is not exempt: he keeps listening to the same two Mahler symphonies and Bob Marley's Greatest Hits.

I probably listen to more new music and try more new foods than 99% of folks in their 50s, and yet I found myself sidetracked on YouTube today, watching videos from the 1960s (I'll share some of these with you this week). I might listen to and enjoy The Fray and Sufan Stevens, but old-school soul music always pulls me back.