Against Optimization
This suggests a general operating principle similar to the Leopoldian land ethic, often summarized as “what’s good is what’s good for the land.” In our current situation, the phrase can be usefully reworded as “what’s good is what’s good for the biosphere.” In light of that principle, many efficiencies are quickly seen to be profoundly destructive,
... See moreKim Stanley Robinson • The Ministry for the Future: A Novel
“Think of efficiency as a high-performance engine. Under perfect conditions, it delivers maximum power and minimum waste. However, that very efficiency makes it less robust. Highly efficient systems have no slack, no redundancy, and therefore no resilience and no spare capacity.” — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 March 2020
Medium • 11: Post-traumatic urbanism and radical indigenism
Efficiency is an anti-goal; it is at odds with the work, which requires resistance and tension in order to come into being.
Mandy Brown • Coming Home
Math is good at optimizing a known system; humans are good at finding a new one. Put another way, change favors local maxima; innovation favors global disruption.
