Definition
The Joy of Not Automating. The deliberate choice to keep doing something by hand because the doing is the point.
What is at stake
Automation decisions get made task by task, on speed. This is the one case where the right answer is no and the reason has nothing to do with efficiency. Without a name for it, that answer sounds like resistance.
Where the word came from
- FOMOPatrick McGinnis, The Harbus, 2004
- JOMOAnil Dash, 2012, answering Caterina Fake on FOMO
- JONAepiscope, 2025
How episcope came to it
episcope, December 2025. The construction is borrowed. The application is episcope's.
Read next
Staying above the lineKnowing which capabilities you refuse to outsource, and why.Antifragile use of AIUsing AI so judgment strengthens under load.Desirable difficultiesFriction that feels bad and produces durable learning.
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