taste,
un—borrowed.

Tastemaxxing is the deliberate practice of developing original, un-borrowed taste by going deep into primary sources rather than absorbing opinions from social media feeds and algorithm recommendations. Instead of letting reels, TikToks, and curated playlists shape what you think is good, you pick a narrow subject -- like Italian radical design of 1966 or Ethio-jazz of the 1969--74 golden age -- spend two to three weeks with primary sources, and form your own specific, defensible opinions.

Start with what you already love. The songs you replay. The outfit that feels like armour. Don't ask "why do you like it" -- that question is lazy. Ask: "what does this do that the thing next to it does not?" Then go narrow. Pick one volume from the library -- not "art" broadly, but a specific movement, era, or figure. Spend two to three weeks with primary sources only. Write a paragraph defending your opinion. Revise it. That's the muscle.

Consuming content is passive -- you absorb whatever the algorithm serves and call it a preference. Tastemaxxing is active and deliberate. You choose a narrow corner, go to primary sources (not summaries, not reviews, not someone's reel about it), form a specific opinion, and defend it. The goal isn't to accumulate references. It's to build the muscle of responding to something and being able to say exactly why it moves you -- and what it does that the thing next to it doesn't.

Each corner or obsession takes two to three weeks of focused, primary-source engagement. But tastemaxxing isn't a destination -- it's a practice. The method is ongoing: interrogate what you already love, then go narrow and deep into new corners, one at a time. The library covers 650 curated entries across 37 volumes spanning art, literature, music, fashion, design, psychology, neuroscience, cinema, architecture, photography, philosophy, marketing, history, storytelling, and more -- enough to keep you going for years.

No. Tastemaxxing applies to any domain where opinions tend to be borrowed -- fashion, design, music, marketing, psychology, history, storytelling. The method is the same everywhere: go narrow, use primary sources, form a specific opinion, defend it. The library spans 37 volumes with 650 entries covering corners most people never reach through algorithmic discovery alone.