Years ago we had a hedgehog wander into garden just at dusk. My cat, who was always very curious, followed the hedgehog around for about 45 minutes as it rooted around for things. The hedgehog did not care at all when my cat sniffed him and (gently) touched him/her with his paws. They do not care.
I kinda fell like Gen Z gets this right, or more right more often than the others. My Gen Z son is autistic (super high functioning, until the crash comes and he's out for a day or more).
But his friends all understand, and many of them, although NT, identify with some of the experiences atypical people have. And I've seen this with his friends in the States as well. Nobody gives him shit, everyone is accommodating without making a big deal out of it.
Just seems like Gen Z will get this one right, like they have many things. Older Gen Xer posting, just for reference. Like a lot of things, Xers just didn't know better until someone showed us.
No I think what they mean was that we did not discover (or the Japanese, rather) that we have separate receptors on our tongues for umami until fairly recently. We knew what it was, but didn't have a proper name for it.
Thank you for saving me what would have been in infuriating click.