This is also a philosophical problem. What exactly are you optimizing? Which optimizations are most important? I could become the most dedicated worker on earth, but I might destroy my personal life to the point I have a breakdown and can no longer work. The world doesn't work in this clean mathematical way where we can see all of the variables, how they are trending, and any approaching discontinuities or emergent phenomena. What does it even mean to optimize a life? Economic output? Happiness? It's hubris to imagine we have any idea how to optimize these things even in a local way, much less a global one.

Amen.

A great example in my life is sailing. I love it, but it's definitely not the best way to travel around our local islands. It's slow, uncomfortable, and kinda difficult.

But, I'd take a sailboat over a motorboat most days. It's enjoyable to "trick" the wind to bring you where you want to go. You're continuing a tradition of boating that goes back around the dawn of civilization. But is it the fastest? Hell no.