A grizzly bear can sniff out a human from 18 miles away. Jumping spiders can see colors that blow human sight out of the water. And some birds can fly across the world using the earth’s magnetic fields as a guide. Even some humans have super senses that set them apart.
The range of human experience is immeasurable. Some claim to experience art more deeply. In fact, they even make a living from it. Art critics supposedly know more about art, music critics know more about music, and wine critics, of course, know more about wine. Their knowledge and experience is supposedly so much deeper than ours that we listen to their opinions, hoping they will guide us to make better choices.
But do wine critics really know wine better than the average person? There is growing evidence that they don’t. Richard Hodgson, a wine grower and a teacher of statistics, repeatedly gave some famous wine judges the same wine multiple times at the California State Fair wine competition, and only 10% knew they were being tricked. Hodgson then performed this experiment hundreds of times at wine competitions across the nation, and the result was the same. These experts were repeatedly fooled into thinking the same wine was different.
Hodgson started looking into the accuracy of wine competitions when he noticed that his own wines could win top awards in one competition while they could be ranked at the bottom at others. He collected data on numerous wine competitions and concluded that the awards were statistically random.
This is not to say that there was no difference between wines or that all wine judges are liars. These wine judges were probably giving their honest opinions, but their subjective judgments don’t always hold true for others. This begs the question how much of our experience of the world is shared, and how much is unique. Whether there is any truly objective reality in the world of wine or anything else is up for debate. Is the color red the same for you as it is for me? How exactly does music move some people and yet does nothing for others?
Read More:
Is Wine Bullshit?
7 Superpowered Animal Senses You Won’t Believe Are Possible
A bear can sniff out a human from 18 miles away. Jumping spiders can see colors that blow human sight out of the water. And some birds can fly across the world using the earth’s magnetic fields. Even some humans have super senses that set them apart.
The range of human experience is wide. Some say they experience art more deeply. In fact, they even make a living from it. Art critics know more about art. Music critics know more about music. And wine critics know more about wine. Their knowledge and experience is so much deeper that we listen to their opinions. And we hope they will help us make better choices.
But do wine critics really know wine better than other people? Some say they don’t. Richard Hodgson is a wine grower. He is also a statistics teacher. He gave some famous wine judges the same wine many times. Only 10% knew they were being fooled. Hodgson did the same thing hundreds of times at wine competitions. The result was the same. These experts were fooled into thinking the same wine was different.
Hodgson saw that his own wines could win awards in one competition while they could be at the bottom at others. He said that the awards were random.
This is not to say that there was no difference between wines or that all wine judges are liars. These wine judges were probably giving their true opinions. Despite this, their opinions don’t always hold true for others. This begs the question how much of our experience of the world is shared and how much is unique. Whether there is any truly objective reality in the world of wine or anything else is up for debate. Is the color red the same for you as it is for me? How exactly does music move some people and yet does nothing for others?
Read More:
Is Wine Bullshit?
7 Superpowered Animal Senses You Won’t Believe Are Possible
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