Kirt (I think)  said  :
>More and more subtle cues are promoted as the "real" taste change, but for
>myself if, when I'm eating a food, I'm running a dialogue in my head about
>"is that the stop?" then I seem to be quite non-instinctive and very
>neo-cortically driven. Indeed, if I'm wondering about a stop, that itself
>is probably a stop since I am not entirely "consumed" with the pleasure of
>the food anymore!

There are probably many aspects in our way of practicing instincto day after
day which should be considered as unnatural, and which are most likely to
baffle instinctive stops. I do think that Burger is involuntarily leading
instinctotherapy into gluttony by putting excessive stress  on  changes of
taste (alliesthesia) as the only internal  signal for regulation fo food
intake. Even if it is the only one we have available, I consider it  a
useful exercice to reflect on the problem on a theoretical basis.

In a natural environment , food intake is limited by scarcity of edible
plants, seasonality, competitors in the same dietary range, and ...the
eater's objective/physiological appetite. But is our food behaviour only
subject to these quatifiable parameters  ? Certainly other subjective
factors such as boredom, need to rest, fatigue while  not related to the
body's physiological needs, and its digestive capacity  have  an important
role to play in the regulation of food intake. Many times, coming back from
work, you went to bed, instead of going to the kitchen. If you had been to
the kitchen you would certinaly have discovered something to eat.

Let's call the slow erosion of the eater's will to eat food in general :
fatigue (the word is more appropriate in English than in French for in the
latter it has a larger meaning of  gradual wearing off ...). This  fatigue
resulting from gathering, harvesting, picking, breaking the shell, pealing,
and finally  eating is very much an internal signal, such as the
alliesthetic reaction,  which should, under natural conditions, interfere in
the pleasure-displeasure trade-off presiding  over our eating behaviour.
Could it be that under natural  conditions this fatigue would dissuade us
from eating additional quantities of food BEFORE  the taste of a given food
changes ? I'm certain it does in many circumstances where alliesthesia is
naturally delayed by high lipid content in the food (RAF ) and where the
collection of food can be particularly dissuasive for a half hearted
predator ( gathering of wild mussel and oyster on the seashore ).


There isn't any pleasure in the natural realm without a concomitant fatigue
. And the fatigue by which we procure ourselves the right to gain some
pleasure has in turn  a  blunting, eroding impact on the same. This blunting
effect of fatigue obviously renders one more indifferent to the pleasure of
food (first Proposition), but it also renders one more indifferent to the
termination of the pleasure (2nd proposition) ( leaving aside the fact that
physical exercice might beforehand increase our apetite and enjoyment to eat ).

The first proposition is quite interesting because it implies that  whenever
we don't consume on the spot, thereby accumulating all the fatigue  in the
collection process, then  sitting down to eat fatigueless after a period of
rest,  we might baffle our instinct. For if we are to collect a
predetermined  quantity of a given food before we start eating,  we will
suppress the collecting-shelling fatigue factor normally associated to each
single intake operation  and we will be left with the mastication fatigue
and alliesthesia  as potential instinctive stops . This fatigue will
necessarily builds up less intensely than the one which would have resulted
form the collecting-shelling-eating fatigue. I have never seen chimps
dressing up a whole table before starting to eat...
 The psychological state of mind is likewise different : after having eaten
a soursop, the chimp will have the choice between taking a nap or finding
another ripe fruit God knows where, whereas we human beings will probably
have the choice between taking a nap and... extending our arm to grab
soursop another fruit.  Guess what is more likely is occur in both
situations and you will understand why we eat too much, irrespective of the
quality of the food. This fatigue factor relates very much to the "moral and
immoral" aspect of the ordinary practice of instinctive nutrition ( two
words  which, no doubt , would set Burger fretting and fuming ), and in
particular the frequent cases of instinctive gluttony ( an interesting
exemple of which I've have the pleasure to  cut open recently on this
list... figuratively speaking of course )

The second proposition relates to the general trend followed by the curb of
pleasure when eating a single small size foodstuffs in significant quantity
(ex cherries in a tree). It will occur to everybody  that the fatigue
associated with the repeated exertion of the arm/forearm, extending amongst
the lower branches,  will have an eroding action on the  pleasure  of eating
cherries. Expressed in analytical terms, we are faced with a pleasure curb
which, instaed of having the Quantity  axys as an asymptote, breaks down
suddenly under the repeated assault of fatigue. The trade off point between
eating more and resting is thus reached sooner whenever we harvest and eat
on the spot.

All these considerations lead us back to Kirt's interesting reflection. For
sure when his conscious mind sends him signals of mental fatigue and
boredom, it 's probably already too late in accordance to the Laws of Nature.

Hoping this improvised message meets with your expectations of sound
contribution.

Cheers
Denis