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The author isn't saying efficiency doesn't exist. The thesis is "We believe that if technology can make some aspect of our lives more efficient, we’ll get back

The author isn't saying efficiency doesn't exist. The thesis is "We believe that if technology can make some aspect of our lives more efficient, we’ll get back free time to do the things we actually find meaningful." Of course things are more efficient now. But the real question is-- does that make our lives better? Is an efficient vacation a better vacation? What would an "efficient" vacation look like (the idea sound gross to me. Getting lost and overwhelmed are part of the fun for me). Simply put, efficiency taken to a logical extreme is bad and we should acknowledge that.

atoav 8y ago
On the individual level: If your perspective on the world is one of efficiency, you will never be able to eat the fruits of your increase of it. You will just pack more things into less time, less space and less money. However if you are like e.g. my favourite sysadmin, you will be incredible efficient in order to have more time for the fun parts. If he weren’t efficient be wouldn’t be able to foxus on stuff he likes because be would constantly be out to extinguish fires. Because he is efficient, he must not. Efficiency is about your optimization goals, a guy like him is optimizing for free time that is why he optimized the rest of it to such a degree, that he can afford it without changing the whole thing for the worse. He could easily also have used that free time to do more work, but he refused.
- alexandercrohde 8y ago
  My stance may be a little stronger than the author's here, but it's something I wish I understood a decade ago. I used to think that more free time was a key to happiness. Turns out I don't believe that at all now, and most of my free time I spend browsing internet garbage. I realized that I enjoy challenges and being needed is actually very fulfilling to me, and not something I can just artificially make happen in my free time. As such, perhaps in a more efficient world (where I don't help my neighbor fix their car, don't cook with roommates) I am less happy. This isn't to say efficiency isn't often good, but I think some of the things it may cost (e.g. fewer possible friendships) may not be worth the price.

atoav 8y ago

On the individual level: If your perspective on the world is one of efficiency, you will never be able to eat the fruits of your increase of it. You will just pack more things into less time, less space and less money. However if you are like e.g. my favourite sysadmin, you will be incredible efficient in order to have more time for the fun parts. If he weren’t efficient be wouldn’t be able to foxus on stuff he likes because be would constantly be out to extinguish fires. Because he is efficient, he must not. Efficiency is about your optimization goals, a guy like him is optimizing for free time that is why he optimized the rest of it to such a degree, that he can afford it without changing the whole thing for the worse. He could easily also have used that free time to do more work, but he refused.

alexandercrohde 8y ago
My stance may be a little stronger than the author's here, but it's something I wish I understood a decade ago. I used to think that more free time was a key to happiness. Turns out I don't believe that at all now, and most of my free time I spend browsing internet garbage. I realized that I enjoy challenges and being needed is actually very fulfilling to me, and not something I can just artificially make happen in my free time. As such, perhaps in a more efficient world (where I don't help my neighbor fix their car, don't cook with roommates) I am less happy. This isn't to say efficiency isn't often good, but I think some of the things it may cost (e.g. fewer possible friendships) may not be worth the price.