Home / Better in the Age of Easy (January 2026)

“The Electric Monk was a labour-saving device, like a dishwasher or a video recorder... Electric Monks believed things for you, thus saving you what was becoming an increasingly onerous task, that of believing all the things the world expected you to believe.”

Capitalism is great at making things easier. AI is making it easier to generate content, social media is making it easier to form opinions, and GLP-1s are making it easier to lose weight. Fortunately, capitalism is also great at making things better. But what does better mean?

If I offered you two identical tables - same material, same style, same cost - and the only difference was that one was made by a human artisan and the other was made by a robot, I bet most people would prefer the table made by a human.

I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I think it has something to do with recognizing humanity. A table isn't just a table, it's also a story. When I see something that someone made by hand, I admire the purpose they must have felt to dedicate so much of themselves to creating it.

Looking forward to 2026, I predict society is going to continue to skew more toward easy than better.

In the age of easy, "better" - whether that's unique ideas, handmade goods, human art or just getting in better shape - is not only going to stand out, but we're going to desire it more due to the impact taking the easy route has on our psychology. We admire purpose, effort, and creativity more when it's scarce, and while technology might allow you to achieve yesterday's definition of "better" with less effort, as humans we're great at shifting the goalposts.

I'm not at all advocating against using new technology. However, it's important to build and use technology to amplify our potential instead of replacing it. Ask AI to rework a sentence instead of write an essay, prioritize lifestyle changes over pharmaceuticals when possible, and use social media to do research and stay connected instead of outsourcing thinking. These technologies are magical in so much as they can 10x our potential but they are also dangerous because they can reduce it toward zero just as easily. People with the ability to use them responsibly are going to have a big advantage in the years to come.