I Like What I Like

Study Shows: Many of Us Like What We Like by Mark T. Shirey

Challenged by a professor saying "I like what I like" at a party, researchers at The Pennsylvania State University (TPSU) recently completed a landmark, 10-year study that shows, not only does the professor in question like what he likes, most, if not all, of the study's participants like what they like, too. At a press conference on the steps of Patteeno Library at Penn State recently, head researcher Robin Cline Darling talked about the study and its implications.

“I overheard Computer Science Professor Noah Lackey at a party in ’96.” Darling said, “He could not explain why he preferred blue cheese over sharp, or Cabernet Sauvignon over Merlot, and he did not want to try other things. He said, ‘I just like what I like.’" Dubious, Darling, a Professor of Food Studies, immediately launched a pilot study with the goals of finding what foods and beverages Lackey liked and then determining whether or not he liked them. Following a subsequent, failed study involving animals, Darling spent two years obtaining permission to study human subjects other than Lackey. Enthusiasm for the research, and the importance of its possible results, inspired Darling and her students to expand the study to a full, representative sample of the population of people who claim to like things.

Subjects were asked whether or not they liked certain foods and beverages and then were given items they did or did not like in a “double blind” test, where subjects did not know what they were getting and researchers did not know who liked what or who was being given what. Almost to a person, the subjects liked what they liked. There were a few so-called "outliers", Darling reported. Due to the nature of certain test foods and beverages, the palates of certain participants, or vagaries in the wording of the survey questions, a few people reported liking some things they do not like, and vice versa. For example, one person reported liking something which they do not usually like. Another, after eating a few dozen of one item, said, "I don't like these anymore." These data points were discarded by the team as being unreliable.

But the main conclusion, that many people like what they like, seems to be borne out by the data and could revolutionize Food Studies. "We hope to get some government grants, and funding from industries that can benefit from our research, and continue exploring this, especially the temporal aspects." Darling said. "Are there people who like what they do not like? Do people like what they used to, but no longer, like? Do people like what they do not currently, but may in the future, like? Can what a person likes actually change? Are there other reasons for liking something other than liking it? Why are some people resistant to trying new things to find out if they like them? Can people be told what to like? Future studies could have an enormous impact on segments of business, industry, and society in general, involved in providing people with things that they like."

Spaham Granier, President of TPSU, echoed Darling’s comments and announced a major, new, University-wide initiative in this new field he dubbed Likeology. "When we realized that Dr. Darling's breakthrough findings about people 'liking what they like' in the field of food and drink might be applicable to movies, and perhaps even books, we realized we needed a multi-discipline Institute," Granier said. He unveiled plans for the Likeology Institute and promised funding for a Likeometrics Lab and a new graduate course in Likeonomics. Granier said, "We have enthusiastic representatives from every College and Department that deals with things that can be liked… except English Lit.”

Cindy Drummand, head of the English Literature Department, is less than enthusiastic. "Let's get real," she said, "we can't have, you know, people, especially undergraduates, liking, you know, stuff, for example a certain kind of poetry or books, just because they like it. That kind of thinking could cause our culture to go to Dante's Inferno in a handbasket."