> A bicycle, for example, is not at any less work than walking

Of course it is, at equivalent distance.

Depending on speed of course. At some speeds drag will cause significantly more work.

	▲	deathanatos an hour ago \| parent [-]
		… I dunno. Bikes aren't just efficient, they're the most efficient form of human movement. 60 W gets you 3 mph walking or 9 mph biking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_performance On my own bike, I don't think there is a pace that isn't easier. Even at slow speeds, it's not a whole lot of work. (And you can always change to a gear where it just isn't a lot of work to go slow. The challenge is more remaining upright, but a low gear and the barest of forward momentum will help that.)

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globular-toast 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I did not say anything about distance. I said cycling enables you to go faster than you could possibly travel without it (ie. faster than you can sprint). What you do with that speed is up to you, but most use it to get to places in less time or get further in the same amount of time. The point is it's not about laziness, it's about unlocking new capabilities.

If cycling were just about laziness then you'd see people cycling at walking speed everywhere, which you never see.

Since we're kinda talking about LLMs too, it's interesting to note that while cycling really does enable you to go faster than you can run, LLMs do not enable you to type at 1000 words per minute. LLMs are more like a teleport that only lets you describe your desired destination, you cannot simply enter a coordinate to get exactly where you want to go.