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All well and good, but that doesn't address what to do with all the people not working. Take away a man's purpose and you end up with a shell of a man. If you

All well and good, but that doesn't address what to do with all the people not working. Take away a man's purpose and you end up with a shell of a man. If you do this at scale, you're going to see a rise in medical (mental and physical health) needs. You'll see crime go up (bored people with nothing to do will fill it with something). You'll see suicides increase (again, purpose). Man needs a purpose for being, plain and simple. So, when we do away with all the jobs through automation and shipping them elsewhere, we'll have to set up community programs where people can find things to do.

pessimizer 11y ago
> Take away a man's purpose and you end up with a shell of a man. This is a religious belief. Also, you're equivocating between purpose and job. edit: my job facilitates any purpose I may have through providing me with money. In every other aspect it hinders me. That's why they pay me and I don't pay them.
- JustSomeNobody 11y ago
  >This is a religious belief. Is it? >Also, you're equivocating between purpose and job. I'm saying once people have no work, they'll have to have something to do. They can't just stand around all day; it isn't healthy.
  - a-priori 11y ago
    Yes it is a religious belief. Whether you realize it or not, what you're describing is the Protestant work ethic imported into North American culture by Puritan settlers from Germanic regions of Europe and Scandinavia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic
  - Artistry121 11y ago
    To question 1 it is definitely not a well founded belief - evolutionarily humans in general have had the purpose of "eat, survive and copulate" - none of which will change in any near term worlds. There may be less to struggle against though.
    - JustSomeNobody 11y ago
      So, our natural state is to eat, sleep and screw? I just can't believe that. I just don't think we'd be where we are today, if that was it.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
        Mine is!
      - Artistry121 11y ago
        Well there is also socialization with a small to medium sized group - which still occurs - and some members of the species fight for status. But these are not universal traits - most humans simply want to survive and play safe.
      - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
        Well quite a lot of us have other things we want to do, actually. People really do seem to oscillate too radically back-and-forth between the Human as Heroic Capitalist and the Human as Impulse-Driven Stereotype of an Animal (when in fact most mammals are quite a bit more complicated than "eat, sleep, screw").
  - kazagistar 11y ago
    Pretty sure those people who need something to do will find something to do, and those who are OK with idling will be fine too.
- swsieber 11y ago
  But is it only a religious belief? Just because something is religious belief doesn't mean it can't be true. I'd like to pipe in though and say that some form of work, of purpose, is important for happiness - be it a job, hobbies, volunteer work, raising a family, etc.
- intended 11y ago
  I suspect this is cultural deritrtitus - I'm not American and I don't hold hear this belief echoed loudly in the religions around me - but it is still true. Furthermore there's enough psych studies which show that human beings crave and feel rewarded when they focus on a task and achieve mastery. Working towards a common goal is one of the known methods of reducing intergroup and inter tribe friction. Work also is often rewarding - people do tasks they enjoy being excellent at, and people reward them for that excellence. Your experience is the other end of that spectrum - being rewarded to do something you otherwise wouldn't.

pessimizer 11y ago

> Take away a man's purpose and you end up with a shell of a man. This is a religious belief. Also, you're equivocating between purpose and job. edit: my job facilitates any purpose I may have through providing me with money. In every other aspect it hinders me. That's why they pay me and I don't pay them.

JustSomeNobody 11y ago
>This is a religious belief. Is it? >Also, you're equivocating between purpose and job. I'm saying once people have no work, they'll have to have something to do. They can't just stand around all day; it isn't healthy.
- a-priori 11y ago
  Yes it is a religious belief. Whether you realize it or not, what you're describing is the Protestant work ethic imported into North American culture by Puritan settlers from Germanic regions of Europe and Scandinavia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic
- Artistry121 11y ago
  To question 1 it is definitely not a well founded belief - evolutionarily humans in general have had the purpose of "eat, survive and copulate" - none of which will change in any near term worlds. There may be less to struggle against though.
  - JustSomeNobody 11y ago
    So, our natural state is to eat, sleep and screw? I just can't believe that. I just don't think we'd be where we are today, if that was it.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
      Mine is!
    - Artistry121 11y ago
      Well there is also socialization with a small to medium sized group - which still occurs - and some members of the species fight for status. But these are not universal traits - most humans simply want to survive and play safe.
    - eli_gottlieb 11y ago
      Well quite a lot of us have other things we want to do, actually. People really do seem to oscillate too radically back-and-forth between the Human as Heroic Capitalist and the Human as Impulse-Driven Stereotype of an Animal (when in fact most mammals are quite a bit more complicated than "eat, sleep, screw").
- kazagistar 11y ago
  Pretty sure those people who need something to do will find something to do, and those who are OK with idling will be fine too.
swsieber 11y ago
But is it only a religious belief? Just because something is religious belief doesn't mean it can't be true. I'd like to pipe in though and say that some form of work, of purpose, is important for happiness - be it a job, hobbies, volunteer work, raising a family, etc.
intended 11y ago
I suspect this is cultural deritrtitus - I'm not American and I don't hold hear this belief echoed loudly in the religions around me - but it is still true. Furthermore there's enough psych studies which show that human beings crave and feel rewarded when they focus on a task and achieve mastery. Working towards a common goal is one of the known methods of reducing intergroup and inter tribe friction. Work also is often rewarding - people do tasks they enjoy being excellent at, and people reward them for that excellence. Your experience is the other end of that spectrum - being rewarded to do something you otherwise wouldn't.