Scientific computation expert Coco Krumme dives into the history and consequences of optimization. She highlights the limitations and risks of streamlined systems, exploring their impact on resilience and perspectives. Krumme questions the societal bargains made in the name of optimization and urges us to consider alternatives.
Optimization can limit options and narrow perspectives, leading to less resilient and more fragile systems.
The pursuit of optimization can have negative consequences, including the loss of specificity, a disconnect from scale and human connection, and the trade-offs in food production and distribution.
Deep dives
The Rise and Consequences of Optimization
The podcast episode explores the concept of optimization and its impact on various aspects of our lives. Coco Crum, a writer and applied mathematician, discusses the origins of optimization, tracing it from philosophers and physicists to tech giants and lifestyle gurus. She highlights the dangers of a single-minded pursuit of optimization and the loss that comes with it. Crum explains that optimization involves setting constraints, defining objective functions, and searching for the best outcome within those constraints. She uses the example of making lemonade to demonstrate how different parameters and constraints can lead to different definitions of what constitutes the best lemonade. She also addresses the idea of changing the objective function as an alternative to excessive optimization. She points out that optimization has become so ingrained in our way of thinking that even slowing down is seen as something to be done optimally. Crum explores how optimization has become a dominant philosophy in society, drawing parallels between it and religion. She discusses the positive aspects of optimization, such as technological advancements and increased efficiency, but also highlights the negative consequences, such as the loss of specificity, a disconnect from scale and human connection, and the fragile nature of optimized systems.
The Costs and Fragilities of Optimization
Crum delves into the costs and fragilities of optimization by examining various real-world examples. She discusses the impact of optimization on supply chains, using the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as an illustration of the vulnerabilities that can arise when optimized systems are put to the test. She also explores the effects of optimization on food production and distribution, pointing out the trade-offs that result in cheap and abundant food but may compromise nutrient density and resilience. Crum visits construction sites and observes the intense optimization of logistics and transportation systems at places like the Amazon Air Hub. She highlights the extensive mathematical modeling and code that underlie these operations, emphasizing the control and efficiency-focused mindset behind optimization. Crum also discusses the unintended consequences of optimization, such as the environmental impact of ongoing optimization in industries like aviation. She raises the issue of optimizing for a snapshot in time without considering long-term implications, using examples like water resource management and oversized airplanes. Additionally, Crum raises concerns about the optimization of natural systems, exploring the complexities of restoring bison populations and the challenges of unwinding optimization efforts.
The Historical and Philosophical Context of Optimization
Crum delves into the historical and philosophical context of optimization, providing insights into its intellectual roots and how it became a dominant idea in Western society. She traces the influence of early Protestant ethos and British thinkers like John Stuart Mill in shaping the concept of optimization as a way to connect individual actions with the greater good of society. Crum highlights the parallels between optimization and religion, emphasizing the moral and societal implications associated with optimized living. She reflects on her personal journey and decision to step away from the tech world's obsession with optimization, seeking a different way of living that values tangible experiences and a connection with the natural world. Crum concludes by suggesting that the way forward involves reevaluating first principles and reimagining our relationship with optimization. Instead of opting out completely, she proposes expanding our way of seeing and embracing alternative perspectives that go beyond the sole focus on optimizing.
Coco Krumme traces the fascinating history of optimization from its roots in America's founding principles, to its dominance as the driving principle of our modern world. Optimized models underlie everything and are deeply embedded in the technologies and assumptions that have come to comprise not only our material reality, but what we make of it. How did a mathematical concept take on such outsized cultural shape?
Krumme's work in scientific computation made her aware of optimization's overreach, where she observed that streamlined systems are less resilient and more at risk of failure. They limit our options and narrow our perspectives. Optimal Illusions exposes the sizable bargains we have made in the name of optimization and asks us to consider what comes next.
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