On Taste and Congruence

W. David Marx · 5 Dec 2023

W. David Marx did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
People in similar social positions tend to share tastes, and the social hierarchy labels some tastes good and others bad.

Their wordsPeople in similar social positions tend to have similar tastes (so-called “taste worlds”), and the social hierarchy elevates some tastes as “good” and disparages others as “bad."
Our reading
There cannot be good taste without congruence.

Their wordsWithout congruence, there cannot be good taste.

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