What we're actually optimizing for
Every major innovation in human history shares the same underlying goal: decrease the time and effort from "what we think we want" to the actual output.
We want to get from point A to point B. First we walked. Then we invented the wheel. Then the cart, the horse, the car, the plane. Each step compressed the time and the physical effort between intention and arrival.
Same pattern everywhere. We wanted to remember things—so we wrote. Writing wasn't enough, so we built the printing press. Then the typewriter, the computer, the cloud. We wanted to talk to someone far away—so we had runners, then mail, then the telegraph, the phone, the internet. In every case we're not inventing new desires; we're inventing faster, easier paths from desire to outcome.
Why it matters for what we build
When you're building a product or a feature, the same lens applies. The best innovations don't create new wants—they shorten or smooth the path from an existing want to its fulfillment. Less friction, less time, less cognitive or physical effort.
That's the thread that runs from the wheel to the smartphone to the next wave of AI tools. The question to ask isn't "what do users want?" but "between their intention and the outcome, where is the delay and the effort?" Then go compress that.