5 ms·

"Manna"[1] as well. While I don't like the writing style, I love the story. Especially since it shows AI gutting middle management in an interesting way befor

by sf_rob 9y ago

"Manna"[1] as well. While I don't like the writing style, I love the story. Especially since it shows AI gutting middle management in an interesting way before robotics is mature enough to do all the dextrous tasks. 1 http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm

pm 9y ago
Agreed. While I'm not a fan of the writing style either, the premise was enough to keep me interested until the end. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't too far off the mark for the next 50 or so years.
eadmund 9y ago
I read Manna, but honestly I thought it was silly. > Terrafoam is, by contrast, 'Worse and worse.' No, it's not. Manna is better and better: it yields continually better results. > With all that happening, it is very hard to get people together to work on big projects. Wouldn't it be cool if there were something to get people to work together on big projects? Something like an economic force causing them to give a little to get a little? Frankly, I think the Australia Project would stagnate after a generation or two, while Manna would continually improve. After a few generations, it'd be much like to Communist states vs. the West: yes, the Communists did often improve on their initial conditions by quite a bit — but the free economies improved even more. I recall a story about someone (in China, perhaps?) bragging about how the government dumped a pallet of free cabbage on each city block every time period. Free cabbage sounds wonderful to someone who was a subsistence farmer — but Asian-American fusion cuisine on every city block sounds even better. And that's just within the construct of the story. A real-world example would have competing Manna-like systems. Also, in the Manna world the problem is that in the U.S. most people don't have the ability to contribute, and so they languish in Terrafoam. It provides no reason for why they are suddenly more talented in the Australia Project. That just doesn't make sense. Anyway, I hope that mankind's actual future is not to choose between two different totalitarian systems.
- candiodari 9y ago
  > Also, in the Manna world the problem is that in the U.S. most people don't have the ability to contribute, Most people don't have the will to contribute. They've always just coasted through life doing what is described in the manna story. They always know what to do next and the only reason they do anything at all is because someone tells them to, or it directly provides satisfaction. After sufficient years they complain that this restricts their ability to do anything at all, especially to change, but of course that's not true. They could spend 2-4 years training themselves and they'd be perfectly able. The reason that doesn't happen is not often lack of ability.
gcb0 9y ago
only read enough to get the premise. Robot tells fast food employees what to do every second, they like it. sounds like the summer job version of the original starship troopers short story that started the series. Some teenage joins the army and like because there is always a sargent telling him what to do every second.

by sf_rob 9y ago

pm 9y ago

Agreed. While I'm not a fan of the writing style either, the premise was enough to keep me interested until the end. It wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't too far off the mark for the next 50 or so years.

eadmund 9y ago

I read Manna, but honestly I thought it was silly. > Terrafoam is, by contrast, 'Worse and worse.' No, it's not. Manna is better and better: it yields continually better results. > With all that happening, it is very hard to get people together to work on big projects. Wouldn't it be cool if there were something to get people to work together on big projects? Something like an economic force causing them to give a little to get a little? Frankly, I think the Australia Project would stagnate after a generation or two, while Manna would continually improve. After a few generations, it'd be much like to Communist states vs. the West: yes, the Communists did often improve on their initial conditions by quite a bit — but the free economies improved even more. I recall a story about someone (in China, perhaps?) bragging about how the government dumped a pallet of free cabbage on each city block every time period. Free cabbage sounds wonderful to someone who was a subsistence farmer — but Asian-American fusion cuisine on every city block sounds even better. And that's just within the construct of the story. A real-world example would have competing Manna-like systems. Also, in the Manna world the problem is that in the U.S. most people don't have the ability to contribute, and so they languish in Terrafoam. It provides no reason for why they are suddenly more talented in the Australia Project. That just doesn't make sense. Anyway, I hope that mankind's actual future is not to choose between two different totalitarian systems.

candiodari 9y ago
> Also, in the Manna world the problem is that in the U.S. most people don't have the ability to contribute, Most people don't have the will to contribute. They've always just coasted through life doing what is described in the manna story. They always know what to do next and the only reason they do anything at all is because someone tells them to, or it directly provides satisfaction. After sufficient years they complain that this restricts their ability to do anything at all, especially to change, but of course that's not true. They could spend 2-4 years training themselves and they'd be perfectly able. The reason that doesn't happen is not often lack of ability.

gcb0 9y ago

only read enough to get the premise. Robot tells fast food employees what to do every second, they like it. sounds like the summer job version of the original starship troopers short story that started the series. Some teenage joins the army and like because there is always a sargent telling him what to do every second.