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"Doubling down on the work ethic in an era in which an increasing number of work tasks can be automated is likely to make things worse for future generations."
by jariel 6y ago
"Doubling down on the work ethic in an era in which an increasing number of work tasks can be automated is likely to make things worse for future generations."
Says the farmhand about to be replaced by coal powered engines?
Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, there have been wave after wave of automation - and yet material prosperity has exploded and unemployment is relatively low.
Here are some highlights from UK unemployment rates for the last 150 years. Note 2018 was one of the top years for employment - even after 1.5 centuries of automation of various kinds. [1]
There are no glorious jobs, it's all mostly a grind, our civilization depends on people doing their work well.
Whether it is serving coffee, taking out the trash, or writing code - take pride in doing whatever it is well, and do your part.
Of course - we want to make sure we are not abused, we want to make sure we are not 'taken' - but we have it better than anyone in history, and the opportunities we have now are almost unthinkable to someone just two generations ago.
For the vast, vast majority of people, it's not that bad, in fact, relative to most humans who have ever lived, it'd downright utopian.
Within reason try to do a good job, be conscientious and proud of your work, get along and take care of those around you.
[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoraccounts/compendium/economicreview/april2019/longtermtrendsinukemployment1861to2018 https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/uksectoracco...
- redis_mlc 6y ago> Since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, there have been wave after wave of automation - and yet material prosperity has exploded and unemployment is relatively low. I'm familiar with the US, not the UK. In the US, the labor participation rate for adults is about 60%, meaning 40% are not working for whatever reason, and that non-participation rate is increasing annually. It will be sobering to see what it is after corona. Perhaps half of adults will be unable to find work. Additionally, for the first time in history, we are close to "general vision AI", which will have an effect on unskilled labor. (In Silicon Valley, OpenCV is already commonly used to elimainate QA staff.) So I don't see how looking at stats from 150 years ago is relevant at all. And the US has a horrible track record on job re-training, as in virtually none. Your optimistic post applies to US coastal computer programmers, but is completely tone-deaf to most other people who actively switch employers for even $1/hour more. The US has also created a self-inflicted wound on college students with debts that will destroy fertility and financial progress for most young people. Western society is ill from a thousand cuts, but worst of all in the US. I wouldn't be surprised if the birth rate halves in the next decade.