The general idea that whether or not a system, item, or idea is efficient is an overall negative for the ethics of humanity. We should not prioritize efficiency over good values or ethics, and we should certainly not sacrifice good values or ethics in order to benefit from a more efficient system. Efficiency at its extreme destroys humanity and the self.
The idea of efficiency is a rather new concept in the grand scheme of human history. It is a word that only exists because of industrial processes and the desire to have an ever more efficient process. A brother of efficiency, optimization, is similar in overall concept, however I do believe there is a distinction, which I will discuss later. A generally true assessment that most people would agree about a practical description of what efficiency is, is more or less “Taking the quickest possible route”, whereas optimization would be regarded as “taking the shortest possible route”. There is subtle distinction between the two, which again, I will discuss later.
Taking the quickest possible route in theory is a good idea. If I am travelling somewhere, and I want to arrive in the shortest amount of time, taking the quickest route makes sense to do, as a road with a higher speed limit and lower traffic density might be faster to take, than taking a physically shorter distance road that might have more traffic or lower speed limits. The American road network is built on this principle: Smaller surface roads feed into larger road networks that can handle the larger amount of traffic at higher speeds. I will continue to use this example, but this discussion is not about the road network, and rather just using it as and example.
With this general theory in mind, we go about building systems to further service this idea of an efficient system. We build our cities around this idea, we plan our lives based on how far we are willing to live from our livelihoods, and plan where we live in relation to accessing these road networks quickly, as we ourselves do not want to waste time, and want to be as efficient as possible. Overall we dedicate a great portion of our lives in service to maintaining a system that was originally designed to support us, and increase our marginal utility and welfare of our lives. A similar anecdote could be said about cities: Cramming an ever denser population into a smaller and small space in order allow people to live more efficient lives. Instead of having to drive 45 minutes to work, they could instead spend 20 minutes walking, which is good for their health, less polluting as they are not driving a vehicle, and it saves more wilderness space as we do not have to build housing in those area. The pursuit of efficiency in itself becomes a going concern, and all other concerns such as individual welfare.
We could build an ever more efficient society. With computing power reaching unparalleled levels, we could in theory plan out each individual’s life, almost down to the number of steps they have to take, place them on that path, and simply monitor them and ensure that they stay on the path of pure efficiency. It would do the least amount of damage to the planet, ensure that the individual had a place within society and that they were contributing, and that they were being supported by society and had their needs met.I do not believe this is a dystopia that anyone would want to live in, and I believe that virtually everyone would agree that this envisioned reality would be the death of the human aspect of humanity. However, that is the overall end extreme of a pursuit for efficiency. It is a hell that even the worst people would not want to wish their enemies to live through. The cold metallic horror of that life would not be personally fulfilling, and would turn humanity from a group of warm and loving mammals, into cold and heartless machines.
So why do we pursue this endeavor? Partly because, ironically, we seek out the easiest path, and we see the quickest path as “good enough” to pursue. This is where optimization becomes important, and a good compliment, if not foil to the idea of efficiency. Again, I am not saying that efficiency is a bad idea; I am merely pointing out that we should do our best to keep it reigned in, again, which is why optimization is important: If efficiency is quickest path, and optimization is the shortest path, efficiency must then be considered a system, and optimization must be considered a meta-system, or a system that has a systems/process in itself. Optimization is generally seen in processes, such as manufacturing, computer programming, or the like, and is confused with efficiency, as the outcome appears similar. However, optimization is different, as optimization cannot move beyond the confines of whatever is being optimized. A road can be optimized for a certain set of circumstances, but those optimizations are made in a benefit/trade-off style of weighing options, in which we can determine what the highest priorities are.
Under this ideal, we can build systems that are better in service to us, rather than us as a service to the system, which should be the point of all systems.