> Why would I care about whether something is a "human thing" or not?
I can't say why "you" care. That's part of the human element itself, the awareness and ability to reject what may have been thousands of years of evolution. e.g. that cooked meat tastes better to suggest that it's better to cook meat than eat it raw. That salting meat acts a preservative that happens to taste good, while rotting meat smells putrid.
Now as for why "I" care: Culture is identity, and identity is one of the key factors of sentience. Otherwise what makes us different from a beast or a robot?
Food is one of the oldest cultural values and can say a lot about personal, familial, and societal values at that place and time. It gives legacy and a sense of identity. An identity of optimized bland food with all nutrional substenance speaks to a world in ruin, a world with so little leisure that cooking is an extreme luxury, if not a thing of the past for that society.
Unless we're exploring the cosmos, that's not really a message I'd want to send of my time.
I can't say why "you" care. That's part of the human element itself, the awareness and ability to reject what may have been thousands of years of evolution. e.g. that cooked meat tastes better to suggest that it's better to cook meat than eat it raw. That salting meat acts a preservative that happens to taste good, while rotting meat smells putrid.
Now as for why "I" care: Culture is identity, and identity is one of the key factors of sentience. Otherwise what makes us different from a beast or a robot?
Food is one of the oldest cultural values and can say a lot about personal, familial, and societal values at that place and time. It gives legacy and a sense of identity. An identity of optimized bland food with all nutrional substenance speaks to a world in ruin, a world with so little leisure that cooking is an extreme luxury, if not a thing of the past for that society.
Unless we're exploring the cosmos, that's not really a message I'd want to send of my time.