Black Coffee and Other Certainties

I have a confession. I believe that if you don’t drink your coffee black, one of two things is true: either the coffee isn’t very good (or wasn’t made properly), or you don’t actually like coffee. I hold this view quite firmly. I’m also aware it’s ridiculous and arrogant. I’ve been thinking about purists lately. People who are certain there’s a right way to do something, and that most people are doing it wrong. You find them everywhere. There are grammar purists, Markdown purists, and people who will tell you that you’re not really doing GTD (Getting Things Done) unless you follow it to the letter. There are (cough) coffee purists too. What fascinates me is how recent many of these ‘right ways’ are. Markdown was created by John Gruber in 2004 to make writing for the web a bit easier. Getting Things Done was published by David Allen in 2001. Each was one person’s attempt to solve their own problem. Both turned out to be useful and solved many other people’s problems. I use Markdown and…