Great examples. Really demonstrates the complexities we face. This may be the best argument for basic income. Why don't we just admit that we just haven't a cl

Great examples. Really demonstrates the complexities we face. This may be the best argument for basic income. Why don't we just admit that we just haven't a clue how things are going to pan out? Things could be fine, or things could get very nasty. Looked at this way basic income is not analogous to social welfare/security – when we admit that we have no clue how the future is going to unfold then basic income looks more like social insurance. This puts me in mind of a thought I had this morning. Why are narratives compelling? Because they explain events. In the past before formal methods allowed us to develop accurate models humans used a narratives even where they are inappropriate. Now, because models have been so successful the pendulum has swung the other way and we tend to over-rely on model based explanations when really we have no clue. What am I saying? Just suppose that the "elephant curve" has been brought about by automation or the 4th industrial wave as the article calls it. We have many many people predicting outcomes based on economic and social models that may fail to apply in spectacular fashion. Maybe what would be better would be to institute basic income to ride out digital automation while models are tested and refined. But also let us collect stories from now and from the recent past to use as cautionary tales whose main purpose is emphasize the point "we don't really have a clue and anybody who tells you they do is talking out of their ass".