Stephen Gilberg (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
deckardcanine) wrote2025-05-17 10:00 pm
deckardcanine) wrote2025-05-17 10:00 pm
Tongue Map
If you were born last century, it’s likely that you’ve seen
A tongue map showing where our sense of taste is extra keen
For bitter, sour, salty, sweet, and possibly umami.
It’s not entirely false, but it’s been taught in ways quite balmy.
When Harvard’s Edwin Boring made the map in ’42,
He meant to show the thresholds for the maxima he knew.
For instance, at the tip is where we best taste food that’s sweet.
The difference, tho, is minuscule; the sections aren’t discrete.
Some readers misinterpreted and jumped to the conclusion
That nothing but the tip detected sweetness. What confusion!
For generations, schools would teach the map as absolute,
Yet smarter students noticed it was something to dispute.
A tongue map showing where our sense of taste is extra keen
For bitter, sour, salty, sweet, and possibly umami.
It’s not entirely false, but it’s been taught in ways quite balmy.
When Harvard’s Edwin Boring made the map in ’42,
He meant to show the thresholds for the maxima he knew.
For instance, at the tip is where we best taste food that’s sweet.
The difference, tho, is minuscule; the sections aren’t discrete.
Some readers misinterpreted and jumped to the conclusion
That nothing but the tip detected sweetness. What confusion!
For generations, schools would teach the map as absolute,
Yet smarter students noticed it was something to dispute.