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I really enjoyed this article! I believe we should produce mass amounts of cheap 3D printed housing that anyone can afford with a part time minimum wage job, a

I really enjoyed this article! I believe we should produce mass amounts of cheap 3D printed housing that anyone can afford with a part time minimum wage job, and then fill in the labor gaps with general purpose artificial intelligence and robotics. Then people can chill out and ignore the more dystopian aspects of society and instead enjoy this wonderful resource of infinite education and entertainment we've created. I think the answer lies in making a good enough standard of living the default for everyone and then there will be less negativity in the world.

indigochill 9y ago
Having seen people who seriously campaigned against installing wifi in a community library because they feared it was going to give them cancer, I think the same people you're trying to help will reject such an automated infrastructure out of fear of technology they don't understand. Although I'll eat those words when I see mass-market self-driving cars (I think people will campaign against those too because there's nobody to blame/sue when a self-driven car accidentally kills a bunch of people). Engineering a better future is one thing. Selling it to the public is a whole different ball game. Which is sort of the other side of this article. People have the technology for better living (like strong end-to-end encryption) and they're scared of it.
Animats 9y ago
It's not that expensive to build massive amounts of housing that anyone can afford. But it looks like this: US version: [1] USSR version: [2] French version: [3] "You can't stack poor people who drink." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka [3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.htm...
- bobsgame 9y ago
  The problem I see with these kinds of housing developments is that you're taking stressed out people with problems and sticking them in small boxes very close together. That's going to compound social stress and amplify bad influences. Something like 3D printed housing seems better to me because you could give each person an entire house to themselves and give them enough of their own territory to where they would feel secure and comfortable.

indigochill 9y ago

Having seen people who seriously campaigned against installing wifi in a community library because they feared it was going to give them cancer, I think the same people you're trying to help will reject such an automated infrastructure out of fear of technology they don't understand. Although I'll eat those words when I see mass-market self-driving cars (I think people will campaign against those too because there's nobody to blame/sue when a self-driven car accidentally kills a bunch of people). Engineering a better future is one thing. Selling it to the public is a whole different ball game. Which is sort of the other side of this article. People have the technology for better living (like strong end-to-end encryption) and they're scared of it.

Animats 9y ago

It's not that expensive to build massive amounts of housing that anyone can afford. But it looks like this: US version: [1] USSR version: [2] French version: [3] "You can't stack poor people who drink." [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka [3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.html http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.htm...

bobsgame 9y ago
The problem I see with these kinds of housing developments is that you're taking stressed out people with problems and sticking them in small boxes very close together. That's going to compound social stress and amplify bad influences. Something like 3D printed housing seems better to me because you could give each person an entire house to themselves and give them enough of their own territory to where they would feel secure and comfortable.