I think it could be said that efficiency is applied to the wrong thing. It was an implied thesis that efficiency in manufacturing would paper over a model intrinsically driven to volume sales.
But the imperatives of mass product already are driven to cost reduction and it’s the fixed costs that drive volume. Market share also gates maximum profits.
also on an epochal scale, eukaryotic o2 biological pathways is example of the paradox.🧵
The o2 metabolic pathway generates ~10x anoxic metabolism. This created new chemical toolkits and opened entirely new biological pathways for eukaryotes; an entirely new level of signaling. Useful for coordinating the symbionts comprising eukaryotes and eventually multicellular life.