The Sciencification of Art

16g of coffee ground at a setting of 1/30. 240g of water heated to 95 degrees. Bloom the coffee with 30g of water and leave it for 35 seconds. Then pour the remaining 210g of water in slow concentric circles.

That's my daily routine to prepare my first cup of coffee upon waking. As long as I stick to light or medium roast beans, consistency is guaranteed. The process of brewing started as an art, devoid of sensitive measuring scales, precision steel burr grinders, and temperature controlled kettles. But today, it's a science, and I'm the mad scientist.

Consistency works well at scale, where repeatability is of prime importance. In a factory, for instance. But at home? Wouldn't we be better off with a little more accidental variety?

I don't know what the point is here, and I'm not even sure if coffee is the right example, but I do know that there exists a certain beauty in variability, and that beauty doesn't get its due. Random mutations are how we have evolved, and maybe we have to keep some room for them in our ever precise lives.

Else, we will be sacrificing global maxima for the feeling of local precision.