In Defence of Friction

The modern world is designed to remove as many barriers as possible. We pay with our phones, have whatever food we want delivered to our door and can listen, read or watch anything in the history of humankind without getting off our arse.

The pursuit of convenience, frictionless and fluid, slides us forward without the opportunity to gain purchase, reflect and consider whether the direction we’re going in is the right one.

Resistance builds strength. Effort gives achievement meaning. Yet too often we figuratively (and literally) take the lift instead of the stairs, opening our mouths and saying “aah” to the choo-choo train of algorithms, AI and instant gratification.

Just a few weeks ago we covered the part of the brain that encourages grit. Friction is the static that turns the idea into reality. As ease becomes the default, effort atrophies; pleasure dulls first into contentment and then frustration.

The constant flood of distractions dilutes introspection, uncomfortable realisations, and hard conversations with ourselves. The frenetic pace of modernity provides a million reasons not to do the hard thing. We find ourselves in the “velvet rut,” where life is comfortable enough, but we’re dissatisfied with our ultimate performance.

We pick good enough over greatness. We moan rather than move. Instead, we need to risk not winning. Enter the race rather than watch from the sidelines. Create more than we consume. That’s real performance. 

Say no to four episodes of Severance on a Wednesday evening. Write the post yourself and ask GPT to critique it, not do the whole thing for you. 

Technology is a miracle. That said, we’re tipping too far into do it for me instead of help me be better. It’s all by design of course. But that's no excuse. Every time we inch deeper into the sea of docility, the more difficult it is for us to make it back to land. 

HG Wells published The Time Machine in 1895. In it, we witness a world where humanity has evolved into two species: the Eloi and the Morlocks. The Eloi live easy lives on the surface of Earth, delicate and feeble, “flit[ting] from distraction to distraction.” They are entertained but powerless, existing in a state of passive consumption.

The Morlocks are subterranean, endlessly toiling to control and maintain technology. In doing so they chart the course of the world. 

Spoiler (come on, you have had 130 years to read it), the Morlocks feed on the Eloi when night falls.

Ostensibly written as a critique of Victorian class structure, The Time Machine can today be viewed as a portent of the not-so-distant future… if not a description of right now. The productive feed on the distracted. Those who embrace friction, “eat the frog,” and harness technology rather than merely being amused by it are in control.

The rest mistake convenience for contentment.

Though literal cannibalism may be a step too far, the allegory holds. Those who do the work capitalise on those who forego friction. Making life easier via technology was the right thing to do, but the pendulum has swung too far. We must remind ourselves what struggle and effort provided previous generations: grit, purpose and progress.

Will using Chat GPT turn you into a smooth-brained blabbering mess? No, of course not. There’s huge utility in using the wonders of technology to heighten our skills and expose us to possibilities impossible alone. But when we outsource every opportunity for edification to save twenty minutes, or not having to *really* think, we neuter our future performance.

Consider this a call to remember that convenience has a cost. A frictionless life is a facile one. Every human task handed entirely to an algorithm is one less chance to sharpen our minds. Each moment of discomfort avoided is an opportunity missed for someone who does rather than is done to.

Unplug the TV. Delete the apps. Use software that prevents you from straying when you need to concentrate. The world's designed to devour your attention. Either go along with it, or redesign it to suit your goals.