I like gear, shave gear, guitar gear, stereo gear, tools. I also try to research whatever gear I am into at the moment. Not anywhere near some people out there in this endeavor, but I have my thoughts.
Recently, I looked up Timor blades, which I really like (at this moment
), online and noticed how differently other people describe them from my experience. Enough that I wonder if they were using a different blade entirely.
This got me thinking (no!) and is really true for all these types of things. Sure a few things seem to trend in agreement, like Feather blades are really sharp, but not always and sometime quite opposed opinions. I found Timor almost as sharp at Feather and much, much smoother. Yet I see described how it is not sharp or not smooth at all.
Similar experience researching razors, and so many things! Try a guitar, and what I hear and feel may not correlate at all to what another person does.
Another example is that my wife and I have entirely different experiences as to what bitter taste is. Of course, I am right on this one, no doubt.
What gear we choose often depends on what circles we obtain our information from. If I hang out with people who prefer Martin guitars, they may be high in my list of what is a good guitar.
How does the internet affect our choices? Data driven advertising and doomscrolling impact what shows up in my searches and drives me in unsuspected ways. I found my (current) favorite razor (Proof Whiskey) by doom scrolling instagram (bad habit). Pretty random? Or not…
So, the question is how to incorporate other people’s opinions into my choices when their experiences and biases are different than mine? There are so many options, we seek guidance, but the guidance has no or little bearing on our reality.
Oh, for the old days. My grandfather, long past and born before 1900, probably just used what was available locally, choosing between the one or two blades or razors at the local general store. Would have had the Martin guitars, because there weren’t many options at all and been perfectly happy and his only resources for data were the people he knew and spoke to.
Recently, I looked up Timor blades, which I really like (at this moment
), online and noticed how differently other people describe them from my experience. Enough that I wonder if they were using a different blade entirely. This got me thinking (no!) and is really true for all these types of things. Sure a few things seem to trend in agreement, like Feather blades are really sharp, but not always and sometime quite opposed opinions. I found Timor almost as sharp at Feather and much, much smoother. Yet I see described how it is not sharp or not smooth at all.
Similar experience researching razors, and so many things! Try a guitar, and what I hear and feel may not correlate at all to what another person does.
Another example is that my wife and I have entirely different experiences as to what bitter taste is. Of course, I am right on this one, no doubt.
What gear we choose often depends on what circles we obtain our information from. If I hang out with people who prefer Martin guitars, they may be high in my list of what is a good guitar.
How does the internet affect our choices? Data driven advertising and doomscrolling impact what shows up in my searches and drives me in unsuspected ways. I found my (current) favorite razor (Proof Whiskey) by doom scrolling instagram (bad habit). Pretty random? Or not…
So, the question is how to incorporate other people’s opinions into my choices when their experiences and biases are different than mine? There are so many options, we seek guidance, but the guidance has no or little bearing on our reality.
Oh, for the old days. My grandfather, long past and born before 1900, probably just used what was available locally, choosing between the one or two blades or razors at the local general store. Would have had the Martin guitars, because there weren’t many options at all and been perfectly happy and his only resources for data were the people he knew and spoke to.
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