The False Prophet

Let’s Feel Good for a Moment Attention: heartwarming story ahead – a teacher was recently awarded $1 million as “the best teacher in the world.” He earned that title by, amongst others, “teaching from a school kitchen, working with students from disadvantaged backgrounds, children with learning disabilities, and parents who lacked formal education...” ( globalteacherprize.org ). What a feel-good moment! But hold up — the glow doesn’t stop there: A local nonprofit raised $15,000 so one homeless man could live in a tiny house ( operationchillout.org ). Strangers funded £3,000 to save Nelly , a Labrador puppy with a rare liver condition, through a GoFundMe campaign launched by a veterinary nurse who cared for her ( BBC News ). A waitress who walked 14 miles daily got a free car from generous strangers ( the-sun.com ). …I could keep listing similar stories, but you probably understand the pattern. Wow, this is heartwarming. Good still happens in the world! Is it? The Pattern ...

The Productivity Paradox: Why We Fear Efficiency Imagine this: 50,000 years ago, a group of hunter-gatherers invents a tool that lets them hunt in half the time. What’s the tribe’s response? Relief. Less time hunting means more time resting, creating, playing, or caring for others. No one protests. No one worries about "job loss." Optimization is a communal win. Fast forward to today. A company automates a warehouse process and lays off half its workers. Stock prices go up. Public anxiety rises. Workers fear for their livelihoods. The very thing that once promised shared leisure and prosperity—increased efficiency—now triggers fear, resistance, and uncertainty. This is the paradox: why do we fear optimization today, when it once meant collective benefit? This post explores that contradiction, how we got here, and what might need to change for efficiency to once again feel like freedom. From Tribe to Market: What Changed? To understand the paradox, we need to identify w...