I’ve come up with a theory connecting three big zeitgeist things: the end of the zero-interest world, the ongoing AI panic, and the meaning crisis. I think it also connects all three to the climate crisis, but I’ll leave that topic aside for this essay since it’s too big.

The thing that connects these things is real-world friction. But to make my point, I’ll need to talk about Meccano models and the philosophy of friction and randomness in engineering for a bit.

In case you don’t know what it is, Meccano is a construction toy, probably the oldest in the modern world (invented by Frank Hornby in 1898), comprising metal parts with evenly spaced holes. Americans may know it as Erector (the two brands are merged now).