1. Experience shapes your difference thresholds. What do you have a lot of experience with? Do you have a difference threshold to match? Do you have areas of expertise in which you can notice subtle differences where other people wouldn’t? Perhaps you drink lots of bottled water and can detect big differences between brands that your friends don’t notice. Maybe you’ve used many different types of headphones, and you have developed a sensitivity to each pair’s ability to deliver bass and treble while your friends think they’re all the same. Maybe you’re a barbecue expert who tastes the difference between sauces, even if they claim to be the same flavor.