The Cult of Optimization is Crumbling Everywhere You Look.
People are tired of having their lives "optimized" by the technocracy that has dominated corporate thinking for the past twenty years. In sports, Sportswriter Evan Drellich observes that the Seattle Mariners exemplify this tired way of thinking while the Padres seem to understand what people really want. He writes how Mariners Jerry Dipoto at an end-of-season press conference made a plea to fans to "be patient as we build a roster that will win 54% of the time." The problem, says Drellich "is that this mindset is just dreadfully, painfully boring. Soul sucking." Nobody wants to hear the goal this year is, ‘We’re going to win 54 percent of the time.’” The lesson of all the rule changes in MLB this year he says is; "That nothing is more paramount than entertainment. The new rules made the sport on aggregate more enjoyable, and the owners in turn reaped financial rewards." And the Padres seem to get it. "The Padres of 2023 assembled some mas...
