This is a foundational exploration within the Moral Physics project. We examine the intersection of technological efficiency, economic feedback loops, and the individual's role as the primary anchor of a high-complexity system.

The Efficiency of Mind

Historical patterns of technology identify a principle known as the Jevons Paradox. Originally observed by William Stanley Jevons in 1865 regarding coal consumption, this paradox suggests that as a resource becomes more efficient to use, the total consumption of that resource increases. This occurs because the reduced cost opens new areas of utility that once remained too expensive to consider (Jevons, 1865). Today, as artificial intelligence lowers the cost of Cognitive Labor, we observe a similar shift across the global economy. This efficiency triggers an Infinite Demand for intelligence.

The Structural Shift

We recognize that market forces value efficiency because it creates immediate value and a competitive lead. The reduction in the cost of processing information enables industries to identify more ways to use it. This results in a massive gain in the total scale of digital work. Whether we welcome or fear this technology, the structural shift toward a high-volume intelligence economy remains a fixed path. Traversing this future requires us to recognize that the demand for human direction grows in direct step with the power of the tool.

The Rebound of Effort

The responses to this shift appear widely varied. We observe a large segment of the population viewing the rapid growth of artificial intelligence with visceral resistance. This reaction stems from the perceived threat to traditional roles. For many, the technology represents a force that cheapens the mastery of the previous age. This resistance targets the loss of human exclusivity in tasks involving writing, coding, and analysis. We must acknowledge these fears while identifying the underlying mechanical reality of the transition.

The Amplifier of Labor

Conversely, some segments of society embrace these tools as the greatest amplifier of Cognitive Labor ever constructed. For these adopters, the Jevons Paradox exists as a guarantee of plenty. We perceive artificial intelligence as a mechanism that allows for the resolution of complex problems once beyond the reach of individual effort. By lowering the barriers to Cognitive Labor, the technology enables a single person to manage projects of a scale that once required entire organizations. In this view, the gain in efficiency expands the horizon of individual achievement.

The Utility of Reason

A significant portion of the population remains indifferent to the mechanical depth of this change. For many, the application of artificial intelligence appears only as a series of incremental gains within existing software. We often see users who focus on the routine tasks essentially bypassing the structural changes occurring in the economy. This state reflects a historical pattern where transformative technologies eventually become invisible background utilities (Luccioni et al., 2024). Just as domestic electricity evolved into a standard utility, digital intelligence becomes a normal part of the modern environment.

The Rebound Effect

Maintaining sovereignty in this environment requires us to understand that efficiency remains a fuel for further complexity. As we move into the "Death Zone" of systemic complexity, the Rebound Effect ensures that we will never reach a state of satisfied demand for intelligence. We only increase our dependence on it (Luccioni et al., 2024). We must become the architects of this demand. The goal is to verify that as the cost of thought approaches zero, the value of human judgment becomes the primary anchor of the system.

Glossary

• Jevons Paradox: The economic principle that increased efficiency in resource use leads to an overall increase in consumption of that resource.
• Cognitive Labor: The mental effort required to process information, coordinate tasks, and generate creative or analytical outputs.
• Infinite Demand: The theory that as the cost of intelligence decreases, the potential applications and demand for it expansion without foreseeable limit.
• Rebound Effect: The reduction in expected gains from new technologies that increase the efficiency of resource use, caused by behavioral or systemic responses.
• Moral Physics: The mechanical reality where technological and moral choices produce predictable and objective consequences in society.

Assumptions and Assertions

• [Assumption] Technological improvements in efficiency stimulate greater aggregate resource demand (Jevons, 1865).
• [Assertion] Artificial intelligence functions as a resource-efficiency tool for Cognitive Labor (DiBella, 2026).
• [Assertion] The Rebound Effect in AI leads to increased energy and computational resource consumption (Luccioni et al., 2024).
• [Assertion] Human judgment becomes the critical bottleneck as the cost of systemic intelligence decreases (DiBella, 2026).

Reference Citations

• DiBella, Charles. Moral Physics (2026). Foundational project link.
• Jevons, W. S. The Coal Question (1865). Initial observation of the efficiency paradox.
• Luccioni, A. S., et al. Power Hungry (2024). Study on the energy consumption of AI.

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