The French authorities have repeatedly stirred up controversy in society, introducing certain bans, in particular on wearing burkas, using Anglicisms and “meat” words to describe plant foods.. This time it's about the holy tenet of modern life against which the French dared to go to war: convenience..

A new law went into effect last week that bans citizens from taking domestic flights if the train journey takes less than 150 minutes as the government tries to cut greenhouse gas emissions.. The decree contains so many exceptions that it may not end up having much of an impact on emissions, but the message is clear: our “comfort” culture cannot continue indefinitely..

At the same time, considering how much trouble it is to get yourself and your belongings to and from the plane, the thought of the inconvenience of the train seems strange..

Convenience was supposed to help us live better, but we raised it to such a level that, it seems, we unwittingly became its slaves.. And it makes our lives worse.

One problem is that convenience is a constantly moving, ultimately unattainable goal, and as such the pursuit of convenience is unsatisfactory.. We can never achieve complete convenience, because there will always be ways to make things a little easier.. There was a time when the idea that you could take an inexpensive, comfortable train in Paris, get a device that could instantly communicate with the rest of the world, and arrive in Lyon in 1 hour and 55 minutes seemed incredibly convenient.. Now it's not like that.

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The internet itself was built on the idea that people want endless convenience.. As Twitter co-founder and former CEO Evan Williams said in 2013, “Internet usability comes mainly from two things: speed and cognitive ease.. If you study what the really big companies on the internet are like, you will realize that they are masters at doing things quickly and not making people think."

The more convenient things become, the more we rely on them, and the more we treat this former luxury as a God-given right.. Therefore, it becomes even more frustrating for us when they do not work as efficiently as we expect.. It was once a luxury to book an Uber. These days, it annoys some people if they have to wait for a taxi for more than five minutes..

But the main problem with convenience is that too much convenience robs life of joy.. " In other words, when we get rid of time and effort, we get rid of the pleasures of life,” writes Zen Buddhist monk Shunmyo Masuno in the Japanese bestseller Zen: The Art of Simple Living..

It is believed that the good life consists of two types of happiness: hedonism, associated with sensual pleasure and comfort, and eudaimonia, associated with meaning and purpose.. While convenience may score high on the former, it doesn't perform well on the latter.. In addition, he scores poorly on another dimension of emotional well-being, which Shige Oishi, professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, calls "

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" Convenience doesn't make a good story, which means it doesn't make a good memory,"

" I can order elderberry cordial from Ocado and have it delivered right to my door. But at the end of this week I will go to the Hackney swamps and pick elder flowers in the sun, waiting for months for the buds to open.. I will soak them in water with lemons picked from my own tree, strain the liquid and then boil it with sugar to make my own cordial..

The final product may be less refined than the store-bought version. But what matters to me is the effort itself, the sense of pride and fulfillment it brings, and the opportunity to connect with the natural world.. It is not comfortable. But, as is often the case, the joy lies in the journey,” sums up the author of the FT article..