.
The ritual of eating
Eating is basic human activity to stay alive. It gives us nutrient, brings us pleasure, and keeps hunger away.
This simple activity gradually evolves into complex rituals in human society, where it plays an important role to initiate and encourage human interaction. It also serves other purposes such as fulfilling emotional needs and healing. Here are some of the “applications” of eating in human society:
- Healing or recovery
- Growing (for children)
- Improve health
- Refreshing body and mind
- Gaining pleasure from food (taste, smell, texture etc.)
- Gaining experience from new kind of food
- Recalling old experience from food
- Reducing stress
- Escaping reality through eating
- Showing gratitude
- Expressing apology
- Expressing joy
- Being a part of religious rituals
- Celebrating
- Partying
- A way to past time
- Initiating conversation
- Trading (barter trade a meal for something)
- Initiating other activities, such as negotiation and business dealing (this includes prostitution)
- Make a lot of people gather together at certain place/time (Banquet, wedding dinner etc.)
- Enabling mass socialization
- Showing one’s social or financial status
- Getting to know someone better
- Conveying certain message or making certain announcement
- Spreading propaganda
- Marketing gimmick and business promotion
- Courting and inducing romantic/sexual relationship
- Strengthen relationship amongst individuals
- Asking favor from someone
- Getting people together to start negotiation or discussion
- Motivating people
- and many more….
I’m writing this thing down because not many people think deeply about this very important aspect of human life. Hmmm…. I’m thinking of eating pizza now.
Subscribe in a reader
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi. I am a long time reader. I wanted to say that I like your blog and the layout.
Peter Quinn
live to eat? cheers ..
You are right! I never think about all these when I eat! All I know is I eat when I am hungry! LOL!
okay, you pretty much told almost all the application lols
Very nice article. Honestly, I never thought about this before. I remember bartering my sandwiches in school.
Two days ago I bartered a wonderful jacket for pet care.
These days I barter with http://barterquest.com
@ weng
If the food is cheap and nice, why not?
@ foongpc
Yup. It’s sort of subconscious kind of stuff.
I read the book “Nutrient for Dummies” today. It says we eat due to hunger and appetite, and both mechanism is totally different.
@ Sophos
I think it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
@ Nellie
Thanks. Bartering is fun. Now people just think so much in terms of money. They didn’t realize that barter trading is powerful.