Steven Pinker -- How the Mind Works - Hampshire High Italian ...

Hotheads 379but most people won't eat from a bowl of soup into which they havespat.Most Westerners cannot stomach the thought of eating insects,worms, toads, maggots, caterpillars, or grubs, but these are all highlynutritious and have been eaten by the majority of peoples throughouthistory. None of our rationalizations makes sense. You say that insects arecontaminated because they touch feces or garbage? But many insects arequite sanitary. Termites, for example, just munch wood, but Westernersfeel no better about eating them. Compare them with chickens, the epitomeof palatability ("Try it—it tastes like chicken!"), which commonlyeat garbage and feces. And we all savor tomatoes made plump and juicyfrom being fertilized with manure. Insects carry disease? So does all animalflesh. Just do what the rest of the world does—cook them. Insectshave indigestible wings and legs? Pull them off, as you do with peel-andeatshrimp, or stick to grubs and maggots. Insects taste bad? Here is areport from a British entomologist who was studying Laotian foodwaysand acquired a firsthand knowledge of his subject matter:None distasteful, a few quite palatable, notably the giant waterbug. Forthe most part they were insipid, with a faint vegetable flavour, but wouldnot anyone tasting bread, for instance, for the first time, wonder why weeat such a flavourless food? A toasted dungbeetle or soft-bodied spiderhas a nice crisp exterior and soft interior of souffle consistency which isby no means unpleasant. Salt is usually added, sometimes chili or theleaves of scented herbs, and sometimes they are eaten with rice or addedto sauces or curry. Flavour is exceptionally hard to define, but lettucewould, I think, best describe the taste of termites, cicadas, and crickets;lettuce and raw potato that of the giant Nephila spider, and concentratedGorgonzola cheese that of the giant waterbug (Lethocems indicus). I sufferedno ill effects from the eating of these insects.The psychologist Paul Rozin has masterfully captured the psychologyof disgust. Disgust is a fear of incorporating an offending substance intoone's body. Eating is the most direct way to incorporate a substance, andas my camp song shows, it is the most horrific thought that a disgustingsubstance can arouse. Smelling or touching it is also unappealing. Disgustdeters people from eating certain things, or, if it's too late, makesthem spit or vomit them out. The facial expression says it all: the nose iswrinkled, constricting the nostrils, and the mouth is opened and thetongue pushed forward as if to squeegee offending material out.