Samenvatting

Psychologically it is very difficult to give in to inactivity or relaxation after continuously trying to achieve efficiency. For example, if you have driven your car through the busy traffic as economically as possible, it is difficult to relax immediately after arrival. A common response then is to engage in interactions that maintain the stabilized stimulus level, for example by immediately starting a busy conversation or chatting on social media. The urge for more efficient energy conversion often leads to an increase in the need for energy. In this article it is argued how supply and demand determine the dominant economic growth model, and, moreover, working or studying more efficiently can in the long run very well lead to less learning or working pleasure and therefore to less efficiency.