This morning I read a tweet by Alex Hormozi. It said:
Technology taken to its natural end becomes “everyone has everything.”But it skips the obvious reality that humans can always find something to suffer about.We will do not solve dissatisfaction with more. We solve it by removing the desire for more.
I replied the following:
I don’t think removing desire is the key to happiness. I think it’s seeking growth over convenience. Everything we do to increase convenience with technology we insert surrogate challenges with technology. Put an escalator in here and add a StairMaster there.
Alex is circling on the same topic that is at the core of a book I’m working on. I refer to the project as Illusions of Convenience.
“Technology taken to its natural end,” is void of specificity. This is Alex’s opening line which is so overgeneralized, he wraps it up with “everyone” and “everything.”
He knows better (I’m guessing), that the products designed to be everything for everyone are the worst. The best technical solutions serve a laser focused unmet need.
Where I’m focused are specific solutions that target convenience and those that move people in a direction of lifelong dependency. Let’s explore how we can recognize both of these signals.
A couple of things before I dig in. First, I don’t think all conveniences are illusions of convenience. Second, what is an illusion for one person may be a legitimate convenience for another. It’s relative to individuals and discernment is key.
Let’s first look at solutions that target convenience. My tweet reply does a pretty good job here. An escalator is, for me, an illusion of convenience. It may be a necessary convenience for anyone that has sincere inability to climb stairs.
The clue for me that it’s an illusion is the StairMaster. It’s the equal and opposite innovation. This is a trap I try to avoid at all costs. I’ll choose stairs in everyday life and skip the gym.
Where do you see innovations of convenience with equal and opposite innovations?
Some to minimize walking. Others to track steps.Air conditioning here. Sauna there.
I could go on and make this a listicle, but I do think it’d be more fun for you to jump in here. Where do you see innovations of convenience and the surrogate challenges?
The second major category I see for illusions of convenience are innovations that result in lifelong dependency. I’m a biomedical commercialization advisor, so, the place I see this the most are in healthcare.
Independent mobility after having a stroke is an area of innovation I see every day. There are researchers at top institutions all around the world who are developing solutions to improve balance, gait, walking speed, and walking efficiency.
The most common post stroke solutions for a walking impairment is a brace. A few fortunate people can get access to assistive devices. These are things like wearable robotic exoskeletons and functional electrical stimulation (FES) devices, which use gentle electrical pulses to make weakened muscles move.
The issue, though, is that assistive devices lead to lifelong dependency on that assistance. There is an army of researchers doing things that don’t have a name yet, but I call them provocative devices. These products move beyond bracing and assistance to then challenge the patient to walk independently again.
So immediately following a stroke, a person my start with a brace, then move to an assistive device, and then to a provocative device.
Imagine a world where patients with sleep apnea don’t get a CPAP, but a provocative CPAP that slowly transitions from breathing assistance to breathing challenges to sleeping without assistance. Yes. I do believe in this world.
Imagine glasses that start off assisting poor vision and gradually challenge the wearer to no longer need them.
Again, I could make a listicle here. But I’m curious if you can think of medical interventions (drugs and devices), that result in lifelong dependence that could otherwise be eliminated if the patient where challenged.
Reminder. This is highly personalized. There are strokes and there are strokes. Some people may never walk independently again, and that’s heartbreaking. What’s more heartbreaking, though, to me, is how many people fall for the illusion of convenience and find themselves living a life of dependence.
There are a few places where I find these illusions of convenience particularly insidious. One is the combination of factors above. The easy way out combined with lifelong dependency. I’ll point my finger at statins here. I’ll argue that the huge majority of people on them are on them for convenience.
The second area, which I find to be the worst, is when the illusion of convenience is applied to children.
Kids with flat feet are given high arches. This leads to weak feet, and a lifelong dependency on specialized footwear. The huge majority of the time, these kids can develop natural arches if properly braced (say, when sleeping) and challenged (running barefoot as much as possible).
It is my hypothesis that over generations, the illusions of convenience make the human race ever weaker, and ever dependent on technology.
None of what I’m writing suggests that technology is a bad thing. It’s also not suggesting the convenience is a bad thing. I see plenty of conveniences that don’t lend themselves to surrogate challenges. I’m writing this on a MacBook and don’t see the need to put in a few more reps when I’m done on the old Smith Corona.
I’d love to hear from you about the conveniences and dependencies that you feel may be illusions, and those that are strictly necessary.
These aren’t right and wrong answers. We all have different capabilities and needs. But unlike Alex, my goal here isn’t to make sweeping generalizations. Rather, I challenge all of us to look for specific places in our lives where we may be gaslighting ourselves into believing something is good for us, when, in fact, it’s making us weaker. It’s creating dependency on technology.
Once that technology has taken hold. It becomes ever more difficult to loosen the grips, and escape the illusion of convenience.
DiMeo Unfiltered is my back of the napkin publication featuring half-baked concepts, works in progress, blog-like posts, and personal opinions. This space is raw, authentic, and self-published.
Thank you for reading.
Health, happiness, kindness, respect
for every being and all things.
— Andrew
"Once that technology has taken hold. It becomes ever more difficult to loosen the grips, and escape the illusion of convenience." - I've become convinced I will never learn to speak or read Chinese, and now that apps like Doubao make translation simple, now I'm certain I never will. 🤨
"Imagine glasses that start off assisting poor vision and gradually challenge the wearer to no longer need them." - that IS a neat idea!