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Am I the only one who is extremely uncomfortable with wasting so much human potential to generate frills for people who already have enough frills? It isn't ju

Am I the only one who is extremely uncomfortable with wasting so much human potential to generate frills for people who already have enough frills? It isn't just getting people fresh out of college to be my butler, I'm uncomfortable with Uber/Lyft too: I've had multiple cabbies with Masters degrees, and even an admitted literature PhD. These people could be building us a new Great Society where learning and creativity are cornerstones, but instead, we look down on such people and in fact despise them for their lack of premeditated profit-seeking behavior during education. They are stuck driving cabs or butlering for someone who got a few lucky breaks instead of making use of their finer abilities, and it's frustrating to see them flounder in the precariat.

swalsh 11y ago
I view apps like this as a transition helper, eventually automated cars will replace uber drivers, etc. However until that tech is fully ready people have to do the jobs. These apps are like creating the interface before the back-end is ready. The real interesting financial possibilities in my opinion about the "gig economy" is the long term potential for when it's not people who are doing the "gigs". Of course people should be a lot more friendly to the people who unfortunately have to rely on these "gigs" to get by.
- VLM 11y ago
  So the TLDR is massive underemployment of some of our most expensively educated youth isn't a problem because soon they'll be unemployed?
  - swalsh 11y ago
    One would hope that in a world where automated cars and advanced AI make unskilled employment especially difficult, unemployment wouldn't be a terrible thing.
    - vkou 11y ago
      That would require a complete overhaul of the social order... Unlike AI, however, nobody seems to be making any headway on that.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
  - shostack 11y ago
    I'd hope that every Uber driver out there is well aware of their intent to replace them all with automated cars the second that becomes feasible. Lord knows it has been telegraphed enough. Doesn't necessarily mean there's an obvious solution for employing those people in the future, but I just hope they are all informed about the fact that Uber's future is basically dependent on eliminating all of their human drivers from the cost equation.
curun1r 11y ago
I go back and forth on whether I think Uber's model for paying its drivers is exploitative or liberating. When I've had drivers who work 16 hour days to put food on their family's table, I feel bad that Uber is taking advantage of them. But then I'll have a driver who is a student who decided to drive for 3 hours that night to make a little extra money while he's feeling uninspired to write a paper for his college course. I would've loved to have that opportunity when I was in school. Both types of driver are paid under the same rules and yet one of them makes me feel a lot guiltier about using the service.
oldmanjay 11y ago
Is your discomfort stemming from the mistaken belief that your opinion of how this undifferentiated mass of "potential" should be squandered?

swalsh 11y ago

I view apps like this as a transition helper, eventually automated cars will replace uber drivers, etc. However until that tech is fully ready people have to do the jobs. These apps are like creating the interface before the back-end is ready. The real interesting financial possibilities in my opinion about the "gig economy" is the long term potential for when it's not people who are doing the "gigs". Of course people should be a lot more friendly to the people who unfortunately have to rely on these "gigs" to get by.

VLM 11y ago
So the TLDR is massive underemployment of some of our most expensively educated youth isn't a problem because soon they'll be unemployed?
- swalsh 11y ago
  One would hope that in a world where automated cars and advanced AI make unskilled employment especially difficult, unemployment wouldn't be a terrible thing.
  - vkou 11y ago
    That would require a complete overhaul of the social order... Unlike AI, however, nobody seems to be making any headway on that.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
- shostack 11y ago
  I'd hope that every Uber driver out there is well aware of their intent to replace them all with automated cars the second that becomes feasible. Lord knows it has been telegraphed enough. Doesn't necessarily mean there's an obvious solution for employing those people in the future, but I just hope they are all informed about the fact that Uber's future is basically dependent on eliminating all of their human drivers from the cost equation.

curun1r 11y ago

I go back and forth on whether I think Uber's model for paying its drivers is exploitative or liberating. When I've had drivers who work 16 hour days to put food on their family's table, I feel bad that Uber is taking advantage of them. But then I'll have a driver who is a student who decided to drive for 3 hours that night to make a little extra money while he's feeling uninspired to write a paper for his college course. I would've loved to have that opportunity when I was in school. Both types of driver are paid under the same rules and yet one of them makes me feel a lot guiltier about using the service.

oldmanjay 11y ago

Is your discomfort stemming from the mistaken belief that your opinion of how this undifferentiated mass of "potential" should be squandered?