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Might as well read it.
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FUTURE FRAMEWORKS: NET POSITIVE COGNITIVE FRICTION
The Problem We've Created
I was chatting with an ex-banker-turned-AI zealot who proudly announced his team had "cognitized" their entire deal pipeline. (Yes, that's a word now.) "Why bother teaching analysts to build models," he crowed, "when we can just ask the algorithm?" He paused, probably expecting a standing ovation. I just blinked.
His question stuck with me because it represents something bigger happening across knowledge work. We're automating away the very experiences that build expertise, treating manual work like dead weight that needs eliminating. If it doesn't come with a progress bar and velocity chart, it's "inefficient."
But what if we've got this backwards?
Think about it: we all know lifting empty barbell plates doesn't bulk you up. Yet in knowledge work, we treat manual reps like they're pointless friction to be eliminated. We slash steps, automate away the "pain points," and then scratch our heads when no one can explain why a pitch actually matters.
What if some friction isn't a bug, but a feature?
What We're Really Talking About: Not the soul-crushing bureaucracy or broken systems (that's negative friction). The mental resistance training that builds something irreplaceable. This is the good friction. I call it Net Positive Cognitive Friction: those processes that pack exponential long-term value by forcing deep learning and adaptability.
Every field has these hidden crucibles. Banking has those 2 AM model builds that teach you to smell BS in financial projections. Consulting has hostile client meetings where your beautiful slides – and your ego – get eviscerated. Sales has the 100th cold call that finally hard-wires your capacity to hear "no" and keep dialing.
Here's what terrifies me: we're amputating the very experiences that build expertise. Every "efficiency" we introduce, every painful step we automate, every awkward moment we optimize is one less rep in the processes that build judgement.
These experiences cultivate what separates the good from the great: judgment. Not the dashboard-driven metrics kind, but the pattern-recognition you earn through repetition, failure, and relentless iteration.
It's cognitive muscle memory.
Ah shit. Did I try to reinvent learning?
Nvm. We’re good.
