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> society isn’t ready to have 10x the number of unemployed people in 25 years Nobody can predict those numbers; any number about unemployment is essentially ma

> society isn’t ready to have 10x the number of unemployed people in 25 years Nobody can predict those numbers; any number about unemployment is essentially made up. And fallacious as well, according to the lump of labour fallacy. In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems.

wpasc 8y ago
I think this time is different because the rate at which technology can improve is growing increasingly fast and society/people's ability to change is not increasing at a commensurate rate.
- nradov 8y ago
  You can't extrapolate the rate of technology improvement based on current trends. It may slow down in the future. For example we're already hitting serious obstacles in basic physics when it comes to semiconductors.
- losteric 8y ago
  The change is also changing. The first waves of automation reduced demand for brute and repetitive physical labor - almost everyone impacted was eligible for the less physical jobs made available by automation. This move towards automating thinking will not follow the same trend.
theevilsharpie 8y ago
> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems. Communism was a direct response to the wealth inequality of the industrial revolution. That was one of the most disruptive political/economic/social upheavals of all time.
TheCoelacanth 8y ago
> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems. Hasn't it? It completely killed off mercantilism and mostly killed off monarchism.
- robotresearcher 8y ago
  It wasn’t the industrial revolution that killed monarchism. The home of the industrial revolution was and is still the United Kingdom, after all. Advances in politics made monarchies less relevant, not industrialization by itself, with France, the US and later Russia being the key examples. The US and Russia industrialized later than France and still-monarchies like the UK, Belgium, Denmark etc. Industrial giant Germany lost its king by losing a World War: despite industry, not because of it.
dragonwriter 8y ago
> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems It not only killed off most pre-capitalist systems, it also mostly killed off the original system named “capitalism” (mostly in favor of modern mixed economies.) It also both spurred and then killed off Leninist Communism.

wpasc 8y ago

I think this time is different because the rate at which technology can improve is growing increasingly fast and society/people's ability to change is not increasing at a commensurate rate.

nradov 8y ago
You can't extrapolate the rate of technology improvement based on current trends. It may slow down in the future. For example we're already hitting serious obstacles in basic physics when it comes to semiconductors.
losteric 8y ago
The change is also changing. The first waves of automation reduced demand for brute and repetitive physical labor - almost everyone impacted was eligible for the less physical jobs made available by automation. This move towards automating thinking will not follow the same trend.

theevilsharpie 8y ago

> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems. Communism was a direct response to the wealth inequality of the industrial revolution. That was one of the most disruptive political/economic/social upheavals of all time.

TheCoelacanth 8y ago

> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems. Hasn't it? It completely killed off mercantilism and mostly killed off monarchism.

robotresearcher 8y ago
It wasn’t the industrial revolution that killed monarchism. The home of the industrial revolution was and is still the United Kingdom, after all. Advances in politics made monarchies less relevant, not industrialization by itself, with France, the US and later Russia being the key examples. The US and Russia industrialized later than France and still-monarchies like the UK, Belgium, Denmark etc. Industrial giant Germany lost its king by losing a World War: despite industry, not because of it.

dragonwriter 8y ago

> In the meanwhile, the industrial revolution (of whom automation is part of), in its 200+ years, hasn't caused any death of political/economic/social systems It not only killed off most pre-capitalist systems, it also mostly killed off the original system named “capitalism” (mostly in favor of modern mixed economies.) It also both spurred and then killed off Leninist Communism.