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How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

fivethirtyeight.com

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Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#81

Post by coldtea »

LaGrange wrote: post #72
thraway-burnout wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I'm married to a Chinese person, I speak (some) Chinese, I've been to China. I love Chinese food. There's no racism in claiming that quite a lot of the "Chinese" food one finds available in Europe is indeed quite dodgy.

> Disclaimer: I'm married to a Chinese person, I speak (some) Chinese, I've been to China. I love Chinese food. "I'm not racist some of my best friends are $race" in third comment on the page, congratulations!

Having friends or even being married to X is a good sign to prove one is not racist towards X.

The inverse idea, that this is somehow a bad argument, I can't even fathom how it started (and how messed the minds of those that think you must somehow be a racist if you make this argument are).

(Sure, one can claim it hypocritically, just like everything else -- that doesn't mean the claim itself signals racism).

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#82

Post by coldtea »

LaGrange wrote: post #74
thraway-burnout wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm actually a closet self-hating racist who built a family with someone I despise. Plus took the time to learn their culture, values, and language; and live my life accordingly. What a bunch of nonsense...

...that's a much more common case than you seem to imply, and your insistence that your marriage choice is some sort of an argument here only increases the likelihood.

The only reason the argument is somehow suspect, is because people can't say anything about a group of people that's not considered racist by some "professionally offended on behalf of others".

Anything negative I mean. They might be OK with 100% praise (though even that has been accused of "idealizing" and other BS by the "professionally offended on behalf of others").

So people saying e.g. "I'm not racist against X, I have X friends, but statistically X cause most of Y (a bad thing)" are considered racist and their qualifier is seen as bogus or hypocritical.

Even if statistically, according to accepted official numbers, X indeed cause most of Y.

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#84

Post by adrianN »

kazinator wrote: post #28
_7fvc wrote: post #27

I grew up eating foods with MSG. I'm usually aware of it. It's one of cooks' favorite abused ingredients. Eating a lot of MSG is bad, just like eating a lot of anything, sugar, salt.

Would you drink a can of pop in which 30g of sugar were replaced with 30g of MSG?

Would you drink a can of pop in which 30g of sugar where replaced with 30g of salt?

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#85

Post by userbinator »

IMHO the fact that Asians have been consuming it in huge amounts for over a century, and yet there hasn't been any common health problems linked to it, should be enough of a clue that it's not really harmful...

I've found that restaurants in China in general tend to use a lot more MSG and other glutamate products than North America, enough to give me a little bit of a "high". It would not surprise me that someone not used to it would probably not like the experience. I once went to a "no MSG" one (they exist over there too, because the "chemicals are bad" line of thought is just as prevalent) without being aware of it, and found the food rather bland --- only upon leaving did I notice the signage.

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#86

Post by UIZealot »

MSG is most likely safe to eat, judging by the copious amount poured into each and every dish ever, in each and every Chinese restaurant that I've been to.

It tasted great when I was only eating in restaurants once in a while. I soon got pretty sick of it after eating out a few times a week for a few months.

There's probably a judicious amount that could enliven a dish without overpowering the food. Alas, the amounts Chinese restaurants are using just make everything taste the same sickeningly savory taste.

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#87

Post by _they »

SiVal wrote: post #62

fivethirtyeight.com: "That MSG causes health problems may have thrived on racially charged biases from the outset." Yeah, sure. Couldn't have just been the usual, nonsensical intellectual fashion of the sophisticates ("ooh, chemicals are so bad!"). No, today's nonsensical intellectual fashion of sophisticates ("oooh, racism explains everything!") has finally figured out what was wrong with yesterday's nonsensical int…

Best thing I have read on the internet in quite some time. Thank you.

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#89

Post by maaaats »

psiops wrote: post #77

I have no antipathy towards MSG. I can taste that it tastes good. The thing is really: It messes with my sleep . I don't know how, but sometimes I get a high dose in me and I just cannot get to sleep, like at all. Elevated heart rate, mind racing, all night long. _That_ I do not like. I don't believe it's an evil chemical, it's naturally occurring after all. But yeah, if someone knows a hack to cure the occassional i…

See comment from tptacek from an earlier discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10866718

Re: How MSG Got a Bad Rap (2016)

#90

Post by Spooky23 »

LaGrange wrote: post #74
thraway-burnout wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm actually a closet self-hating racist who built a family with someone I despise. Plus took the time to learn their culture, values, and language; and live my life accordingly. What a bunch of nonsense...

...that's a much more common case than you seem to imply, and your insistence that your marriage choice is some sort of an argument here only increases the likelihood.

Sorry, but this is an intellectual lazy argument that undermines discourse.

Highlighting a close personal relationship like a marriage that spans cultures isn’t the same as the “some of my best friends are black” trope. It’s a useful context that implies a deeper understanding of differences between cultures and thinking.

I have nothing to add about restaurants, but I would illustrate this by my experience growing up in a traditional Irish Catholic family (2nd generation immigrants) and going to school with many first generation American born Chinese and Koreans. From my perspective, my classmates were cool and in alignment with the things that I cared about as an 80s kid, but at the same time reserved from an after school perspective.

As a grew older, I noticed some ways our families were similar, but the cultural differences were a big load on my friends. Many spoke no English at home and had to serve as universal translators for language and the cultural standards both ways. A few struggles with being an “outsider” in school and a decadent American in the eyes of extended family.

I bring this up because it’s easy to attribute to racism things that are better categorized as mutual misalignment of perspective and experience. Perhaps reflecting on how your implied characterization of the poster’s marriage would perhaps be hurtful or interpreted in a negative way would be a productive exercise.

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