Millions of items of the outward order are present to my senses which never properly enter into my experience. Why? Because they have no interest for me. My experience is what I agree to attend to. Only those items which I notice shape my mind — without selective interest, experience is an utter chaos. Interest alone gives accent and emphasis, light and shade, background and foreground intelligible perspective, in a word. It varies in every creature, but without it the consciousness of every creature would be a gray chaotic indiscriminateness, impossible for us even to conceive.
– William James, 19th century psychologist, via Maria Popova
More than a few times, friends have asked me why the espresso or aeropress coffee I brew for them tastes different from what the black coffee they have (rarely) had at a Starbucks in the form of an americano or pourover. By different, they mean it is not bitter, and has notes that they can perceive if not identify.
I realised that the machine that Starbucks uses to extract an espresso – an americano is after all espresso plus water – is adjusted such that the grounds are exposed to water that is too hot, and for too long – over-extraction. Of course this may not be be true for Starbucks in other countries.
That realisation led me to understand that Starbucks probably needs its espresso to be, well, harsh because its customers need to be able to taste the coffee among everything else that is in its drinks: milk, sugar, cream, flavourings, additions like caramel or chocolate or praline.
I would like to think I am not a purist, and this is not a criticism of Starbucks. I use this example simply to point out that when you increase the number of things that have to vie for your attention, each of them needs to be dialled up to eleven. In many cases, that means you’re no longer experiencing any of these things at their best.
Put differently, if as the psychologist James says, My experience is what I agree to attend to, the fewer the things you attend to at any moment in time, the better you will be able to experience them.