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I thought the author would revisit the 90s discovery of "supertasters," people who have a heightened sense of taste. (People who like hot peppers usually have a diminished taste sensitivity and are not supertasters.) https://apnews.com/article/ee0a2d08c57a937913c86f53541d0e80 https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/accounting-for-taste/

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Not convinced about that - first, spiciness is not a taste, because it affects the heat/pain receptors on your tongue rather than the taste buds. Of course, the sensitivity for spiciness varies a lot between individuals, and maybe it correlates with the sensitivity for taste. Second, it might be the other way around: people with diminished taste sensitivity appreciate spicy food because it adds some variety for them, but that doesn't mean people with normal or even heightened taste sensitivity can't appreciate spicy food.

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