We optimize for convenience. Faster delivery. Fewer clicks. Seamless experiences. And for most things, that’s right — nobody wants a harder way to buy groceries.
But some things benefit from friction.
Running a marathon is nothing but friction. That’s the point. The difficulty is the product. Take away the friction and you’re just… going somewhere slowly.
Learning something deep requires friction. The struggle to understand is where understanding lives. If it goes in easy, it comes out easy too.
Writing is friction. The gap between what you think and what you can articulate — that’s the friction that makes thinking sharper. Remove it (say, by letting an AI write for you) and you’ve removed the thing that was actually valuable.
Even meditation is friction. Sitting still when your mind wants to move. Paying attention when your attention wants to wander. The practice is the resistance.
The trick is knowing which friction to eliminate and which to embrace. Eliminate friction in logistics. Embrace it in craft. The things worth doing are usually the things that resist being done easily.