Be inefficient.
For most of mankind's existence, work was seen as a punishment, not a virtue. People used to only work as much as necessary to survive. But with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, this mindset changed dramatically.
Frederick W. Taylor introduced Taylorism, a factory management system, whereby output efficiency is increased by evaluating every step in a manufacturing process and breaking down production into specialised repetitive tasks. In essence, we were changed from sovereign beings to factory cogs. Your value was determined by how much you could produce and how quickly you could produce it.
A single focus on efficiency and a whole culture around this concept was born. We are told that what we have isn’t enough and that we need more, faster and more expensive versions of what we already own. A feeling of ‘not having enough’ and ‘needing more’ is now the norm. Being stressed has become a regular emotional state. And materialism has replaced God.
Inefficiency is frowned upon in society and this plays perfectly for technocrats and totalitarianists alike. A lot of their work has already been done by the public, as this cog-like mentality has infiltrated into the culture. Independent thinking is dangerous and inefficient, your neighbour will tell you so.
Society has now morphed into a place where advancement is sought after for its own sake. Firstly, this has blurred the intended destination. The goalposts will indefinitely move further and further away, as systems can always theoretically become more efficient. This disconnection from end results has made it impossible to know where we are taking science and technology and where these powerful creations are taking us through their vast influence on ourselves and our world. We are headless and completely lost on the frontiers of our scientific, technical, and economic endeavours. And lost animals are vulnerable ones.
Secondly by placing efficiency at the highest of all characteristics to have and attain, other areas of human lives, societies, and the biosphere fall to the wayside. We have social media and yet we are less social. We have anti-depressants and yet more depression than ever. This disconnection between what we are told we need and what we actually need continues to grow. Secondary downstream and usually unintended and unplanned effects begin to occur with the introduction of newer shinier objects. These effects usually bring net negative results.
Our civilization succeeds spectacularly in terms of improving the performance of everything and fails equally spectacularly in ensuring that the results are able to coevolve without undermining the integrality and integrity of the fabric of relations in which it participates. It is becoming clear to me that this disconnect is becoming ever and ever greater. To stay sane in our world today requires a type of self-control that has never been required of anybody in the whole history of the human race.
The ability to say “no, I have enough” is a superpower in the 21st century. It is also rebellious and extremely inefficient.
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