Direction matters - at least when it comes to the sense of smell!

I stumbled across this article: "Why does coffee never taste as good as it smells?" the other day.

Photo from original article, linked to above.

Did you know that the same thing smells differently if it passes over your "smell receptors" from the outside in... than it smells if it passes over them from the inside out?

Learn something new, every day, eh?

I do love learning mostly trivial facts like this...

Maybe one of these days I'll be able to use it in a game of Trivial Pursuit... or to win thousands of dollars on some game show like Jeopardy.

Or... maybe not!

Seriously though, I would have never thought!

I knew smells greatly affect how something tastes, and have used that strategy several times to "convince" children to eat particular un-favorites. If you plug your nose as you swallow, it doesn't taste quite as bad! (This strategy does NOT help, however, if it is the texture that makes an edible item unappetizing.)

This interesting piece of scientific trivia has had me thinking, though... back to that good 'ole theme of expectations. Coffee tastes differently than expected because of a difference between the initial burst of flavor anticipated based off of the forward/inward moving smell and the actual flavor after a mouthful and an opposite/outward moving smell that isn't quite as pleasant.

Direction definitely matters.

I wonder if that's why they often say that coffee is an acquired taste - you finally get used to that difference between what you thought it was going to be and what it really is. I've acquired the taste.

It is kind of the same in real life, too, wouldn't you say?

Perceptional direction matters. 

Several , even though they may be radically different, are arrived at legitimately based on different worldviews, priorities and thought processes (not necessarily meaning both are correct or incorrect). Sometimes it is hard to understand another's perspective because it truly makes no sense to you... but only arrogance could claim that different means it simply doesn't or couldn't or shouldn't make sense at all. The tricky part is figuring out when a particular perspective agrees with God's point of view... and when it doesn't. The hard part is owning up to wrongly perceiving (admitting to yourself, others and God) when God reveals that your perspective doesn't line up with His, choosing to discard that perception and then adopt, accept and apply the new one God offers. If we want to be effective ambassadors for and representatives of our Lord, we must be able to see the sense... the authentic, genuine "logic..." of why others do as they do, why they think as they think.

I need to walk at least a mile in someone else's shoes before making judgments, becoming all things to all men so that through me, my Lord might win some.

I've got some hard work before me.

How about you? 

What do you think about some of the many differing viewpoints in the world today? 

Can someone who accepts a radically different truth than you

still have real and good reasons for why they believe as they do?

If you were the one holding those beliefs, what approach 

would most impact you and your beliefs? 

Oh yes... before I forgot...

My favorite detail from the above article?

There are two odors perceived the same whether moving in or out of a nose: lavender... and chocolate!