Philosophy Discussion Forums

If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.
What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 7:13 am If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.
What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

On the tea, I normally determine how much tea I need/want, then I pull enough tea bags from the box to make that much tea. Usually 1 bag works per cup. I have done double strength but never triple strength.

On the philosophy, the best author on "quality" is Robert Pirsig in his books "Zen And Motorcycle Maintenance."

His first philosophy book lays down the argument for being anti-technology.

In his second book he totally refutes his first book. This is similar to another classic philosopher who also wrote 2 books in which the second was a complete repudiation of the first. Forgot the guy's name though, offhand.

Prisig asks the question, "What is Quality?"

In the first book, he talks about excellence in stoicism.

In the second book, he talks about indulgence in Epicureanism.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 7:13 am If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.
What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

You’ve made the observation that if you put so much water through so many tea leaves, the result will be a certain flavour. Run more water through the same tea leaves and the flavour will be different. You may prefer one cup over the other, but so what? It is as it is.
The philosophy at hand is, do you accept the limitations that life imposes on us or do you try to stretch out that which is there, into something more?

Present awareness The point is, do you accept something if something of higher quality is possible. We are assuming that tea gets better with more leaves, that is why I used that example.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 23rd, 2019, 12:59 pm @Present awareness The point is, do you accept something if something of higher quality is possible. We are assuming that tea gets better with more leaves, that is why I used that example.

If we accept things as there are, rather then how they might be, we are more in tune with reality, instead of wishful thinking. However, that doesn’t mean we should not strive for improvement, only that what “is” already “is” whereas what might be, isn’t and perhaps may never be.

Accepting things how they are, I can have alot of one thing at a lower quality, or one thing of high quality and another of lower quality, or I accept having one thing of high quality and shun using another lower quality thing as it is inferior to something I have already had. Can you directly answer the question?

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 23rd, 2019, 1:33 pm Accepting things how they are, I can have alot of one thing at a lower quality, or one thing of high quality and another of lower quality, or I accept having one thing of high quality and shun using another lower quality thing as it is inferior to something I have already had. Can you directly answer the question?

You may, of course, do as you wish!

Tea used to be a luxury.

Now it is very cheap.

Why not just use new bags ?!

Tea isn't the subject it is just an example. Also, I don't have a driver's license or the money to buy myself new tea so I just have to deal with the supplies I receive.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 7:13 am If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.
What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

I'm a bit confused, if there are only three tea bags ever and three tea bags is your perfect cup of tea, then you have no choice but to accept either inferior tea or no tea at all after the first cup. If other tea bags are available then you have to decide what ammonut of additional effort you will put in to get new bags against tolerating a lesser cup of tea. This a subjective judgement only you can make for yourself.

Having worked in quality control and quality assurance for more than 40 years, it has been my observation that the level of quality is equal to the strength of the user's demands. In the case of the number of tea bags being used and/or reused, the user will determine the level of quality he/she wants.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 7:13 am If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.
What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

I'm not sure your scenario is clear.
If I had 3 bags and one cup, I'd make three cups of tea over a extended period.

If you make a cup of tea with 3 bags you get a very strong cup of tea, and the second cup will be either too strong, just right, or two weak depending on how long you leave the bags in the first time. But you could even time to first cup to be perfect too.

So I fail to see how your questions follow.

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 23rd, 2019, 12:59 pm @Present awareness The point is, do you accept something if something of higher quality is possible. We are assuming that tea gets better with more leaves, that is why I used that example.

I think the example is poor.
As for the question. Accepting something of less than perfect quality is what we do everyday, through necessity. My car could be more fuel efficient , the roads could be clearer; there could be a train station outside my house that leads directly to work; I could have a army of artists to do my bidding so that I was spared the heavy work; pigs could fly dropping perfect rashers of bacon onto my plate that tasted fantastic but has zero calories....

I am just asking what you guys in specific would do in this specific scenario... stop saying it's subjective

Intellectual_Savnot wrote: ↑April 17th, 2019, 7:13 am If we make a cup of tea with three bags of tea leaves, and make another serving with the same tea leaves, the second serving will be good enough to be considered one cup worth of flavor, but less good than the first cup.

If you make one cup with 3 bags then get them out quick. The second cup could be stronger or weaker depending on how long you leave them in.
best to make 3 cups from 3 bags.

What to do?
You have three bags of tea, lots of hot water, and a cup.
The philosophy at hand is, do we accept something if there is something of higher quality of the same type?
Any ideas are appreciated.

Put the bags in the water until the strength is perfect, then remove the bags and insulate the pot to keep the tea warm and use at leisure. If you use a thermos it can stay hot for hours