Friends will be friends (6)

He broached the subject like this. “Do you like hot food?”
“I’m not as tolerant with hot (=spicy) food as my wife, but I like hot food.”
“Yeah! Well, the degree of hot food is displayed in various stores. For example, this food is labeled with two chili marks. But two-chili marks do not mean that customers recognize the two-chili mark foods in different stores as the same hotness. For example …… “

He enthusiastically talked about the need for standardized hotness for a while. It would be strange if the car’s speed differed between maker A and B while the speed meter of both A and B exactly tells it is 40 km/h!? I didn’t know the necessity of the world-standardized hotness, but I replied, “It sounds interesting.”

There are several reasons why I found it fascinating. First, it looked very funny that he was serious about this stupid project. Second, he has already set up a company for that purpose and even created and released a mobile phone application, which tells the strength of his motivation. The number of downloads is about 50,000, which is quite good. It’s indeed Citizen Science. And the third. The perception of spiciness is not from the tongue. It’s not the so-called “taste” but the same as “pain.” So then, if the hotness is successfully standardized, it may be possible to standardize the pain. It may also be possible to bridge the gap between the degree of pain known to the doctor and the pain actually felt by the patient.

Knowing that I like the hotness-standardized project = making a “hot meter,” he said: “Now, this project is hitting a wall. I want to go further. Not only in Japan but also overseas, improving the accuracy of the hotness index and improving entertainment. I’d be happy if you could help me.”

I wouldn’t have immediately answered if I were younger, but now it’s different. An acquaintance who came to see me for the first time in 30 years became a friend. There is no reason to decline. After leaving the pub, I invited him to my house for about 30 minutes to serve coffee. He passionately explained the project (again) to my wife during that time. After that, he went to the hotel with the cooperation of my wife, an active researcher. What a mysterious connection.