Oooh ooh game designer with opinions here! A key difference between the cases is about process vs. outcome. For the piano player and the aikido practitioner, process and outcome are directly linked - when I talk about this in the context of games, I describe this as "you play to play, not to have played." But for food, you are operating as a designer rather than a player. You are trying to create a joyful artifact. You could, of course, move food into the prior case by saying "cook in a joyful manner," but in that case I think you would see the same patterns as with piano and aikido. What do you think?
And by the way, I think you have changed the argument by changing the emotion. If you ask a pianist to play joyfully, and then more joyfully, the "more" will likely not have the same direction (i.e. some will play even faster, some even "brighter" a.k.a. more high notes struck quickly, some with more expansiveness. Ferocity has a narrower meaning to us (a roaring lion) than joy.
I believe you that there is something different about food, but I wonder whether there is also something different about joy. (Or, per Jess's comment, at least joy as an experience.) The idea of "more joy" is difficult for me to imagine somehow. You could imagine someone laughing, but dialing that up to eleven might seem manic, nightmarish, or insincere. What is joy? Is it whimsy? Indulgence? Relief? How much joy is too much, e.g. when does joy become something else? I could imagine a meal that is brightly colored and surprising, but more so might be garish or obnoxious. If I was to draw joy as a function I would imagine an upside down parabola rather than a line, compared to a quantity like "ferocity."
Oooh ooh game designer with opinions here! A key difference between the cases is about process vs. outcome. For the piano player and the aikido practitioner, process and outcome are directly linked - when I talk about this in the context of games, I describe this as "you play to play, not to have played." But for food, you are operating as a designer rather than a player. You are trying to create a joyful artifact. You could, of course, move food into the prior case by saying "cook in a joyful manner," but in that case I think you would see the same patterns as with piano and aikido. What do you think?
And by the way, I think you have changed the argument by changing the emotion. If you ask a pianist to play joyfully, and then more joyfully, the "more" will likely not have the same direction (i.e. some will play even faster, some even "brighter" a.k.a. more high notes struck quickly, some with more expansiveness. Ferocity has a narrower meaning to us (a roaring lion) than joy.
I believe you that there is something different about food, but I wonder whether there is also something different about joy. (Or, per Jess's comment, at least joy as an experience.) The idea of "more joy" is difficult for me to imagine somehow. You could imagine someone laughing, but dialing that up to eleven might seem manic, nightmarish, or insincere. What is joy? Is it whimsy? Indulgence? Relief? How much joy is too much, e.g. when does joy become something else? I could imagine a meal that is brightly colored and surprising, but more so might be garish or obnoxious. If I was to draw joy as a function I would imagine an upside down parabola rather than a line, compared to a quantity like "ferocity."