The Efficiency Paradox: What Big Data Can’t Do

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By Edward Tenner ’65

Published Feb. 19, 2018

As a society, we are obsessed with efficiency, and big data promises that we will be able to be more productive in less time. The Efficiency Paradox (Knopf) asks if efficiency is always the most valuable thing, arguing that our assumptions about it lead us to miss things and waste time.

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PAW's July/August 2025 issue cover, featuring a photo of people dressed in orange and black, marching in the P-rade, and the headline: Reunions, Back in Orange & Black.
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On the cover: Wilton Virgo ’00 and his classmates celebrate during the P-rade.