--- title: How to develop taste date: 2026-02-15T14:12:28+08:00 categories: - llms --- Developing taste & judgement are an essential skill in the AI era. [#](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24626/w24626.pdf) [#](https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.12338) ![](https://files.s-anand.net/images/2026-02-15-how-to-develop-taste.avif) But taste is different from knowledge and takes more time. - Gaining knowledge is a software upgrade. It strengthens existing synapses. It's fast, reversible, no new "cables" required. - Taste is a hardware upgrade. It destroys inefficient pathways, grows neurons for new pathways, and wraps axons with myelin speeding up signals 100x. (London cab drivers _literally_ have a larger hippocampus.) **Taste takes time**. How we acquire taste depends on the environment. - In kind environments (with clear, immediate, accurate feedback, like sports, surgery) is easier. Practice at the edge of competence. [#](https://daviddidau.substack.com/p/the-problems-of-practice) - In wicked environments (investing, hiring, politics, strategy) confidence can be misleading. So, **audit prediction reasoning**: write your predictions _with_ reason. Months later, if you were right for the _wrong_ reasons, treat it as failure. --- Practices that help: - Taste requires complexity _and_ understanding [#](https://tiffaning.com/files/Silvia_2013_Interested%20Experts,%20Confused%20Novices.pdf). So, **when bored, complicate; when confused, study** by copying, comparing, asking why, and prototyping a vocabulary. [#](https://commoncog.com/the-tacit-knowledge-series/) [#](https://youtu.be/k4oC7_cAvBU) - [Argument Mapping](https://rationaleonline.com/docs/en/tutorials): create granular mind-maps of arguments, find hidden assumptions, and evaluate evidence. - [Watch experts](https://www.psy.lmu.de/isls-naples/intro/all-webinars/collins/cognitive-apprenticeship.pdf): watch experts at work, guess their next moves, explain your reasoning, and copy but with extra constraints. - [Perceptual Learning](https://talks.ui-patterns.com/videos/badass-making-users-awesome-kathy-sierra): learning by comparing examples and prototyping a vocabulary. - [Brain Trust](https://hbr.org/2008/09/how-pixar-fosters-collective-creativity): have peers critique your work _against a goal_ at early stages (to focus on core, not polish). - [Mindfulness](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness): to reduce sunk-costs and other biases/blindspots. Helps with post-mortems. - [Communities of Practice](https://kk.org/thetechnium/scenius-or-comm/): find where experts in your field hang out, curate ruthlessly, and absorb the vocabulary. - [Project-Based Learning](https://www.sloww.co/ultralearning-book/): solve a real problem _you_ have, fail + learn + iterate, with other people. Ancient wisdom (Stoicism, Buddhism, Confucianism, etc.) broadly aligns, but there are a few differences. 1. **Slow vs fast**. Ancient wisdom suggests that judgement _must_ develop slowly. Science is optimistic about acceleration, e.g. perceptual learning, simulation, etc. 2. **Moralility**. Ancient wisdom anchors judgement in morality. Science is more agnostic. Sometimes ["taste" is just "elitism"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjhs-themes/article/epistemic-demarcations-as-social-erasures-taste-and-the-politics-of-distinction-from-the-revolutions-of-wisdom-to-the-green-revolution/FF24FC14ECA4D30BF4E819D34268FAC8). That's not going away, and offers another way to develop taste: via "club membership". --- AI, like [most automation, erodes skills](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00146-025-02422-7). This has happened in the past and we deal with it differently. - **Autopilots** eroded flying skills - which is dangerous. So we **enforce** flight simulators. Same for surgical knots (robotic surgery), celestial navigation (navy), manual dosing (nurses). - **Spreadsheets** eroded calculation skills. We **leveled-up** from sums to strategy. Same for CAD, electronic trading, spell-check. - **Photography** eroded painting skills. We **switched** value to impressionism, cubism, etc. Same for vinyl records, luxury watches, craft coffee. - **GPS** eroded navigation skills. We **accepted** this and don't care much. Same for phone numbers, spelling, mental maths. Think about how the skill we lose will evolve. Then enforce, level-up, switch, or accept accordingly. --- Source: I used [Claude Deep Research](https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/1ab0169b-566f-4f2c-b94c-a5fa95838dfc) and asked [Gemini to interpret it](https://gemini.google.com/share/ad78f0536411). --- **23 Mar 2026**. [Taste may not matter as much as I thought](https://mtrajan.substack.com/p/leverage-in-the-ai-age-is-not-what). I see AI learning & acquiring good taste in code (e.g. architecture) and art (e.g. writing, visual design). Accountability may be more important.