First: The modern world is in fact very pleasant. We have a thousand labor-saving devices. We are thoroughly accustomed to instant heat, cold, transportation, water, light. The elements are at our command in dials and switches. How ridiculous that must sound to most of history! How hard to believe. It matters very much that we remember and keep gratitude for these miracles.
But these miracles lead us to make unintentional tradeoffs. If we orient homes and lives solely around conveniences, we risk living more and more abstractly.
This is from a post by Simon Sarris on his Substack, The Map is Mostly Water.
I remember my father complaining that other people didn’t seem to notice the interesting things that leapt out to him. My teenage self rebelled at the arrogance of this statement and I told him they probably noticed other things he missed. He acknowledged that possibility.
My adult self is rebelling at Sarris’ post for the same reason. Here’s his opinion on coffee:
I know of quite affluent people who drink mediocre coffee — not because they like it! When pressed it is because they are too busy to seek out what’s better. They cannot be bothered, somehow, to search for luxury. They do not wish to study. May this kind of idleness never find you.
I’m one of those people who don’t particularly care about my coffee. I drink instant sometimes. I’m also trying not to pay too much attention to food. Even so, I agree with Sarris’ larger point. We value convenience too much and in doing so, we lose something. Viscerality, his choice of word for what’s lost, is perfect.
Nehaveigur 