Friction doesn’t sound like a good thing. It’s something that slows you down. We have friction with a friend when we disagree about where we want to go to dinner. Swimmers aim to reduce friction so they can move faster through the water. User experience designers spend their careers trying to minimize friction in apps and websites. But what if a little bit of friction actually made life more worth living?

We’re used to convenience. Tech has offered countless ways for us to make our lives «easier.» Instead of hauling to the grocery store to browse the aisles and pick up our weekly provisions, we can Instacart anything we need at the push of a button. Instead of buying a ticket and commuting to our local movie theater, we can stream anything we choose from the comfort of our couch. Instead of calling a friend for advice about home decor, we can ask ChatGPT for the answers. But tech sometimes sells us solutions to problems that we didn’t know were problems in the first place. It leads us away from the regular human duties of chores, correspondence, and even leaving the house. We’ve all assumed this is a good thing. We aim for «frictionlessness.» But is there a tipping point at which convenience actually hinders us?