What Gives Us Our Taste?

[Snake Hips]

This is kind of an odd question, and a little out there, but I hope to start an interesting discussion. What gives us the taste that we do? By that, I mean what we choose. We are "modern" in palate. We smoke a variety of cigars from many different brands and countries in search of complexity and particular profiles as well as construction and value. This is tied to other things as well, like alcohol. We sample different beers of a huge variety of styles from several countries searching again for complexity and superiority in profile. Beers, rums, whisk[e]ys, wines...but why? Why were our fathers insistent on one thing - the local beer and "his" cigar brand? Our dads smoked box after box of one cigar, King Edwards, White Owls or whatever. Our dads drank case after case of shitty local beer (Olympia, Lone Star, Old Style, Stroh's, Schaefer, etc.) and/or bottle after bottle of Jim Beam or whatever "affordable" spirit he chose. So why can't recent generations settle on anything but variety and complexity? Boutique cigar brands, craft breweries and the such have exploded in the last decade, but why?