An Anti-Efficiency Manifesto
Obsession with efficiency is strangling our community—the washing away of what it means to be a student, now separated from humanity. Bathing with the firehose of academia, drowning in what it means to be efficient.
“Do,” but at what cost? Do the p-set, land the internship, get the job done.
Meanwhile, we’re doing away with our culture. Sterility in every hallway, every lab. Replace the banisters with steel. Don’t paint on the walls. Don’t express what it means to live.
Anti-efficiency is healing.
It provides space for contemplation, introspection, meditation, and mindfulness. In a world of constant media and noise, anti-efficiency connects us to ourselves and each other.
Take a walk, hang out with your friends, meander to find the best breakfast sandwich in town—sure, you could drive to get an Egg-McMuffin at the nearest McDonald’s, but why?
The only reason to do anything efficiently is to get back to the important, life-affirming work of being delightfully inefficient, prioritizing the unnecessary needs of every living moment: those sweet treats, that long walk, that late night talk. So, we remember what it means to be human.
What if we valued care over innovation?
What if we valued the journey over the destination?
What if we valued silence over noise?
What if we valued rest over the grind?
What if we valued stillness over speed?
What if we valued space over stuff?
What if we valued ourselves over the investor?
We would value anti-efficiency.
Yours in Dignity,
AEIOU and sometimes Y
Related Events
February 28 // Offering of Tiny Griefs at MIT Stratton Student Center, W20-425: Cherish your tiny grief by transforming it into a paper flower of your creation.
March 1 // Memorial of Tiny Griefs at the MIT Chapel: Stop by the chapel to enjoy the memorial to our shared losses.
March 13 // Flash Portraits at the MIT Museum: Engage in a unique drawing experience with a Flash Portrait Session! You'll be paired with a stranger to carefully observe and draw them without looking at your paper or lifting your pencil. This will provide a preview of MIT Face to Face, a collective event and pop-up exhibition inspired by Congregation, an artwork by Es Devlin, the 2025 Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts recipient.