The Efficiency Paradox is the most recent in a series of thoughtful books by Edward Tenner, going back to his Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences (1996). This new work is buttressed by an extraordinarily wide range of knowledge but does not always manage to bring its learning into the service of a clear narrative, a clear argument.
Tenner defines efficiency as “producing goods, providing services or information, or processing transactions with a minimum of waste.” It is a term that he applies to “all technology intended to reduce to human time needed for a task, whether buying a product, learning a subject, planning a trip, or making a medical decision.” Essential to Tenner's approach is the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. For instance, a mechanical plow using an internal combustion engine is far more effective at plowing a field than a horse is, but it uses about 13 times as much energy—which is not very efficient.
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