Why is almost everything a tradeoff?

Pick any two good things and you usually cannot have both at full measure. Time or attention. Storage density or fast access. Depth or breadth. Explore or exploit. The pattern is so common it starts to feel like a law of nature rather than a coincidence. Is a tradeoff a feature of the world itself, or a sign that you're at the edge of what is possible? And if it is the latter, how far can you move that edge, or get both after all?

open-question·philosophy·systems