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The problem is that we will still need vital services that computers are still indeterminatably far from accomplishing. Let's say we go full Star Trek and get

The problem is that we will still need vital services that computers are still indeterminatably far from accomplishing. Let's say we go full Star Trek and get replicators (with the seemingly limitless energy that is a hallmark of the series unless it's a "dilithium" episode). Great! All the physical needs at the push of a button! But people will still need to develop the replicators, manage supply chains, and so on. Even if a machine managed most of it, people would have to know how to step in when the machine fails, because they will. Bigger problem: medical services. It takes a FUCKING LONG time to become a doctor, and for good reason. So would the many layabouts freed from labor be entitled to top-notch medical services? We're kind of stuck with the shitty system we have until we have far greater technology than we do today to solve our problems. And that assumes that population growth doesn't spiral out of control and that the climate plays along for long enough for our species to get its collective shit together.

kstenerud 10y ago
> But people will still need to develop the replicators, manage supply chains, and so on. Machines can do that. If they break in ways a machine can't fix (a diminishing situation over time), an expert gets paid a lot to fix things. > Bigger problem: medical services. It takes a FUCKING LONG time to become a doctor Whereas a machine will a better doctor than any human could ever be from the moment it rolls off the factory floor. > So would the many layabouts freed from labor be entitled to top-notch medical services? Of course! It'll be dirt cheap to implement anyway (unless you're American). > And that assumes that population growth doesn't spiral out of control Population growth doesn't spiral out of control. We have plenty of studies that prove this. > and that the climate plays along for long enough for our species to get its collective shit together In many places, renewable energy accounts for more than 75% of new capacity. Solar is about to plummet below coal in cost. Electric cars are mainstream, and will over time displace the internal combustion engine. We've got scientists developing cheap carbon absorbers. Meanwhile, we've already passed the point where there simply aren't enough jobs to go around. Just wait till the truck drivers are displaced in a few years! That'll be fun...

kstenerud 10y ago

> But people will still need to develop the replicators, manage supply chains, and so on. Machines can do that. If they break in ways a machine can't fix (a diminishing situation over time), an expert gets paid a lot to fix things. > Bigger problem: medical services. It takes a FUCKING LONG time to become a doctor Whereas a machine will a better doctor than any human could ever be from the moment it rolls off the factory floor. > So would the many layabouts freed from labor be entitled to top-notch medical services? Of course! It'll be dirt cheap to implement anyway (unless you're American). > And that assumes that population growth doesn't spiral out of control Population growth doesn't spiral out of control. We have plenty of studies that prove this. > and that the climate plays along for long enough for our species to get its collective shit together In many places, renewable energy accounts for more than 75% of new capacity. Solar is about to plummet below coal in cost. Electric cars are mainstream, and will over time displace the internal combustion engine. We've got scientists developing cheap carbon absorbers. Meanwhile, we've already passed the point where there simply aren't enough jobs to go around. Just wait till the truck drivers are displaced in a few years! That'll be fun...