The industrialized world often mistreats the consumer. With so many mass-produced and standardized products, I sometimes feel standardized myself.
There are limits to standardization. Some products present no problems since we benefit from their uniformity. Others cause us to lose our personality since we have to adapt to them.
For example, I have no problem with standardized contact lenses. In this case, the more alike they are, the better. A contact lens must be reliable, and this is exactly what standardizing lenses achieves: the exact same outcome every time.
Due to the sensitivity of the eye, the slightest imperfection—a particle of dust or even the smallest scratch on the lens can make it unbearable
Pens, however, are entirely different. For me, a pen is a tool for writing, a craft closely bound to the inner life of the writer. Words on the page are not merely marks of ink, but expressions of interior thought, shaped by the hand that gives them form. A pen suited to the writer’s needs—its weight, balance, tip, design, and so forth—becomes essential. It is an extension not only of the hand, but of the imagination itself.
Thus, a person’s pen reveals something of who he is. The difference between a standardized sixty-cent pen from Walmart and a carefully chosen fountain pen, fitted with the desired nibs, signals the seriousness with which one approaches the art of writing. When pens are reduced to standardized objects, they contribute to a blandness so contrary to the art they serve.
Thus, the limits of standardization depend on the person and the desired goals for using products. Consumption is best when it respects and expresses the personality of the consumer.
Photo Credit: © Елена Бионышева-Абра – stock.adobe.com
First published on TFP.org