Our body is calibrated not to notice the taste of pure water, because it is valuable in evolutionary terms that we notice any deviation from its normal taste. The qualities we notice, and the things which often affect us most, are the things that make no sense – at some level, perhaps it is necessary to deviate from standard rationality and do something apparently illogical to attract the attention of the subconscious and create meaning. Cathedrals are an over-elaborate way of keeping rain off your head. Opera is an inefficient way of telling a story. Even politeness is effectively a mode of
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