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This article reminds me of the 80/20 rule: 80% of the result is achieved with 20% of the effort. You might not need the result's last 20%. Skip that excruciatin

This article reminds me of the 80/20 rule: 80% of the result is achieved with 20% of the effort. You might not need the result's last 20%. Skip that excruciating, complicated 80% effort to get it. Coffee is a good example for me. I like a decent cup, or a drinkable espresso beverage. So I bought a cheap, good condition Gaggia Classic Pro espresso machine; a quality hand grinder; and an AeroPress. Learned to operate all 3. Boom, decent coffee & espresso. Can I crush tasting competitions or make fancy latte art? Nah. Being "80% of a barista" is fine to me. I don't need to spend ten large on equipment and hundreds (thousands?) of hours becoming 20% more of an expert. I'm having fun, don't spend $15/day on coffee, and my family enjoys the result. That'll do, pig. That'll do. Does this rule apply to surgery or financial security systems? Hope not. But you get the idea. I make coffee and Folgers it ain't. Maybe keeping "good enough" and the 80/20 rule in mind could simplify our lives.

pddpro 5y ago
> Does this rule apply to surgery or financial security systems? There are, in fact, places in the world where people die of relatively simple diseases and infections. I should think that a person with just 1-2 year of elementary medical knowledge armed with WHO's Essential Medications would undoubtedly save more than 80% of lives in those areas.
chousuke 5y ago
I'm pretty similar with coffee; all you really need is a decent grinder and reasonable control over water temperature, and immersion brews (like the Aeropress) are really hard to completely screw up, so you can focus on buying good quality coffee and on experiencing the variety in flavours. While I've managed to avoid an expensive espresso addiction, I do still do pourovers every once in a while even though I'm not that good at them because they're just fun to do, and I can totally understand people putting tons of money and effort into perfecting their coffee experience.

pddpro 5y ago

> Does this rule apply to surgery or financial security systems? There are, in fact, places in the world where people die of relatively simple diseases and infections. I should think that a person with just 1-2 year of elementary medical knowledge armed with WHO's Essential Medications would undoubtedly save more than 80% of lives in those areas.

chousuke 5y ago

I'm pretty similar with coffee; all you really need is a decent grinder and reasonable control over water temperature, and immersion brews (like the Aeropress) are really hard to completely screw up, so you can focus on buying good quality coffee and on experiencing the variety in flavours. While I've managed to avoid an expensive espresso addiction, I do still do pourovers every once in a while even though I'm not that good at them because they're just fun to do, and I can totally understand people putting tons of money and effort into perfecting their coffee experience.