- Coffee facts
“Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction” (Francis Picabia)
“The Chemex is the ultimate drip coffee!” “Complete nonsense, the porcelain filter is the classic, it’s a must!” “That’s so old school!” “No!” “Yes, it is!” “Oh, man…!” Conversations about, with, and over coffee have always been very lively – especially here in the editorial office.
Barbara Beiertz
The coffee house - a rebellious place.
It is said that the first coffee houses, which emerged in Constantinople around 1550, were meeting places for scholars and wise men who – stimulated by caffeine – debated cultural, political, and philosophical ideas so lively that the houses were closed down because of their inflammatory ideas. Although this is no longer the case today, the most exciting conversations always happen over coffee.
In this article, we won’t explain why this is the case by looking at the scientific side of it, the caffeine and so on. We have already dealt with these topics in several other blog posts. For example in “Good coffee, good mood.” “Coffee and sports – how does that go together?” and “How healthy is coffee?”.
For us, it’s more about the ability to look at things from different angles – the kind of thing that happens so often when we have a coffee with someone.
Let's look at coffee from a different angle. Or: How does a change of perspective actually work?
Reality is very complex. Which is why it is very pleasant to have simple explanations at hand thanks to an ideology (and to be able to hide behind them). But the world is not black or white, there are lots of shades of gray – aka points of view aka individual “realities” – in between. Which is why solutions to the problems of our time are – and must be – just as diverse.
A company boss recently explained his method for making business decisions to me: “In our management circle, everyone can/may/should present their view of a problem so that we get as comprehensive a view of the matter as possible. Only then does the respective department head make a decision.” (Usually over coffee, by the way.) “This sometimes takes a long time, but it involves all departments and saves time on the way to implementation.”
Sounds good. But how is an individual supposed to get an overview in the media news overkill with its sensationalism and all the fake news, let alone keep track of it?
Our tip: Drink coffee. Seriously, talking to people directly (over coffee) helps. So don’t (just) communicate digitally, but in real life. Because then you are much more likely to develop empathy – the ability to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Which in turn is the basis of respect for other opinions. And a culture of debate. Of course, you still need the facts, but if you manage to not only get them from your own bubble, but also change your perspective from time to time and perhaps also see things from a different angle, then you’ve already gained a lot.
“Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction”
Incidentally, this quote by French artist Francis Picabia was written at a time when the world really was in ruins (1916) – and so a young artists’ movement completely reinvented itself by doing everything differently than before: Dada* was born. Picabia was described by his friend Marcel Duchamp as the “greatest exponent of freedom in art”. Perhaps we should just let our minds wander a little from time to time – it’s incredibly relaxing.
And with a really good coffee (whether from the Chemex, the porcelain filter or the machine), the world looks completely different again.
* Dada or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916), founded by Hugo Ball with his companion Emmy Hennings, and in Berlin in 1917.[2][3] New York Dada began c. 1915,[4][5] and after 1920 Dada flourished in Paris. Dadaist activities lasted until the mid 1920s. (Wikipedia)
