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Aug 19, 2009

"I have no doubt that it is possible to give a new direction to technological development, a direction that shall lead it back to the real needs of man, and that also means: to the actual size of man. Man is small, and, therefore, small is beautiful." --E.F. Schumacher

The Efficiency Trap

"A central pillar of our society is the drive for efficiency. Extracting the most in the shortest period of time is the motivation behind the vast majority of actions in the modern world. As a concept, efficiency is so ingrained in our consciousness that to call it into question can seem counter-intuitive, if not completely ridiculous." So starts this Resurgence Magazine review of 'Slow-tech: Manifesto for an Over-wound World' by Andrew Price, which introduces the efficiency trap and how we might transcend the conflict between the efficiency of industry and development and the robustness of ecosystems.