If workers aren't needed for work, what will happen to them? The animal and plant world answer is generally a 'return to nutrients'.
On 3 Oct, 09:57, Shekila Tieschmaker <[email protected]> wrote: > how do you get out this group thing ? > > > > > > > > >________________________________ > > From: James <[email protected]> > >To: [email protected] > >Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 10:26 PM > >Subject: Re: Mind's Eye thought experiments > > >Well it is far worse (or better depending on who is looking at it), many of > >the older trades and crafts-people I've met had an appreciation for seeing > >their work as an artform. That would be my robot heaven, working toward a > >world where we can all pursue meaning and purposeful work without the burden > >of resource scarcity. What would it matter that someone wants to be a > >plumber or architect in a day when those positions are obsolete, if that is > >pursuing meaning, it would matter little more than what restaurant someone > >likes to the next guy. In a world that valued human contribution it might be > >a plus, there is a name associated with the foundation of my home, or > >certain furniture or I tweaked my engine to respond exactly the way I like > >in a curve, finding a way to shield a planet from gamma radiation, > >optimizing resource allocations in complex evolving environments from > >nanotech on up to transport vessels for interplanetary mining and > >settlement, etc.. > >Back to the present time and scale there is the matter of plotting a course > >of innovation by meeting challenges. > >Laziness might be a challenge, and frailty, I haven't met many people who > >have had to wash clothes in a bathtub complain about the advancement of the > >washing machine, or get whimsical about enduring ailments we've found > >remedies or therapies for. We seem to be in a transitional stage, not quite > >coming to grips with the world we could create. Psychology is important to > >survival, nonproductive time as some call it, I eye some of them as suspect > >sociopaths. Being motivated can be very rewarding, it is too bad that out > >word for meaningfully motivated is "naive". I'm taking the long way 'round > >with this. > > >On 9/19/2012 5:56 PM, archytas wrote: > >> Thought experiments are devices of the imagination used to investigate > >> the nature of things. Thought experimenting often takes place when the > >> method of variation is employed in entertaining imaginative > >> suppositions. They are used for diverse reasons in a variety of areas, > >> including economics, history, mathematics, philosophy, and physics. > >> Most often thought experiments are communicated in narrative form, > >> sometimes through media like a diagram. Thought experiments should be > >> distinguished from thinking about experiments, from merely imagining > >> any experiments to be conducted outside the imagination, and from > >> psychological experiments with thoughts. They should also be > >> distinguished from counterfactual reasoning in general, as they seem > >> to require an experimental element. > >>http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/thought-experiment/ > > >> One I like is the notion of robot heaven. It's easy enough to imagine > >> a time when machines grow our food, build our shelter and do our > >> work. The interesting stuff comes in thinking what this would mean > >> for wealth distribution and the nature of society. What work would be > >> left to do? One can also wonder what place any of our work ethics > >> would have in such a society. There may be some deconstructive effect > >> on just what current work ideologies are in place for. > > >> One of the great improvements technology brought to my life is more or > >> less never having to go into a bank. The only real innovations in > >> banking are the ATM and electronic banking. This kind of technology > >> and similar in agriculture and industry fundamentally reduce the > >> amount of human effort to grow and make what we need. We are in > >> partial state of robot heaven. > > >> Our ideologies are not up to speed. Real unemployment is massive and > >> education does little to provide job skills. We are sold life-styles > >> and products by insane advertising. Job creation seems to be in > >> perverse areas like financial services or bringing back attended gas- > >> pumps. With more efficient production we should be able to afford a > >> bigger social sector and I can't for the life of me understand why we > >> allow competition through crap wages and conditions. > > >> A great deal of what we pay for could be available more or less free. > >> Educational content and utility banking are examples - these are areas > >> that could be ratinalised like agriculture and manufacturing. > >> Millions of jobs would go. We should be asking why jobs are so > >> central to out thinking on wealth distribution and how we might > >> encourage work without the rat race. > > >-- --
