Why hasn’t new technology made us more productive than it has?
Balaji Srinivasan asks in a Twitter thread why we’re not far more productive given the technology available. Here I collect the five possible explanations he mentions.
- The Great Distraction.
All the productivity we gained has been frittered away on equal-and-opposite distractions like social media, games, etc. - The Great Dissipation.
The productivity has been dissipated on things like forms, compliance, process, etc. - The Great Divergence.
The productivity is here, it’s just only harnessed by the indistractable few. - The Great Dilemma.
The productivity has been burned in bizarre ways that require line-by-line “profiling” of everything. - The Great Dumbness.
The productivity is here, we’ve just made dumb decisions in the West while others have harnessed it.
[Via]
