Meaningful friction

or, the dark side of convenienceDespite what pretty much every advertisement tries to convince us of, convenience isn’t always the answer. We shouldn’t shun friction from our lives; it plays a vital role: it uncovers what’s meaningful in your life. Many products we buy promise to make our lives easier. Usually they do. My dishwasher, washing machine, and robot vacuum were all great investments: they do the things I don’t enjoy. But marketing applies this effective argument-convenience-to just about everything. It’s a compelling argument and easy to fall for; I definitely do. But despite convenience being a desirable trait, we shouldn’t let it into our lives without scrutiny. Friction has value. It helps us distinguish between what we deem worth our time and what we don’t. A glaring personal example is what search engines-especially with the addition of AI-did to me. Throughout the day I’m bombarded with thoughts, many of which I want to follow up on: is this book any good?, what are…