Being of German decent, I get the whole black and white attitude of my parents. There is no room for grey or ambiguity, there are always obvious views or choices, based on precise information and they are happiest when they can point to a view held up over time. No one has made a good western since John Wayne passed, not even Clint Eastwood, springs to mind. Unfortunately the world does not work on absolutes and the frustration, ambiguity and complexity we encounter every day, leave my parents confused and retreating back to the black square, where they feel comfortable, fenced by old fashioned viewpoints, with limited choices. After all, the choice for their first Volkswagen came in two colours, black and white. For the rest of us, it seems the world holds no such ease when it comes to choice or viewpoints, with constant bombardment by technology, marketing and finance, making pragmatism an outdated concept as it slides into choice and viewpoint paralysis.
When small seeds of pragmatism bloom and the recent outrage by Germany over the NSA spying debacle, resulting in the CIA chief being asked to leave the country, is an example of pragmatism of the highest order, my parents smile knowingly. When asked how they were approaching the technology challenges around securing information, Patrick Sensburg, head of the parliamentary enquiry over ‘spygate’, sent government agencies back 50 years when he indicated they were procuring a large supply of typewriters and not electronic models, to counter the technology infiltration. According to Russian newspaper, Izvestiya, the Russian Federal Guard Service followed suit, ordering Triumph Adler typewriters to stay ahead of the online spying. While spying today is done from thousands of miles away, the early days of James Bond saw things done the old fashioned way, with lots of people on the ground, with the occasional digging through rubbish to collect used typewriter ribbons. So typewriters may not be the answer but along with long walks in the park and quiet coffees with their counterparts, some of the agencies are enjoying pre internet spy games, according to the Guardian newspaper. Seeing no immediate alternative to technology, the German government sort out a pragmatic solution with the resources at hand. In the background, I see my parents nodding their heads in approval.
The very nature of pragmatism, an approach evaluating theories and beliefs on the success of their practical application, is about limited choice. Yet today's consumer mindset is all about vastness of choice, throwing practically a curve ball no one can hit, certainly not out of the park. My parents don’t own any technology but they see how I interact with my technology hardware and have made comments around the lack of choice, showing pragmatism can work in a commercial sense. They’re of course talking about Apple, whose array of products all fit on a small coffee table, and who give limited choice to their customers, who become pragmatic in their approach to consuming the products. The success of the company has always hinged on not being everything to everyone and having the ability to provide black and white alternatives within a closed system, making choice easier and providing ample opportunity for the same viewpoints to be shared across their community. So in a world of vast choice, Apple’s pragmatic approach to their beliefs in a few well designed products, through practical application, has led to their success.
The comfort my parents find in pragmatism is what Apple has given their consumers and what the German government has given their staff. If you can find the black and white, if you can find the practical application of the things that matter in your life, then you are likely to find more comfort in your decisions and viewpoints. Is it time to get rid of the rainbow of choices and make black and white the new everything?
