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These luddites completely understand the situation. Software will simply replace the menial parts of jobs, leaving only the more interesting parts left to human

These luddites completely understand the situation. Software will simply replace the menial parts of jobs, leaving only the more interesting parts left to humans. In other words, you'll be able to do more with what you have, and you won't be bored out of your mind doing repetitive tasks. In math: The Boyer-Moore theorem solver. This completely replaces a mathematicians job of proving theorems, right? Wrong. It replaces the menial task of connecting the steps, and making sure the proof is correct. Mathematicians can now focus on the bigger picture, more complicated proofs, instead of wasting time verifying the correctness of their proof. In law: I'm not familiar with the exact system name, but there are systems that make retrieving huge legal databases to find relevant cases much much easier. This replaces the menial legal-aide jobs, but not the creative aspect of figuring out how to tie past cases together, present your case in court, etc. (I'm not super familiar with a lawyer's job, but you get the point.) In art: Photoshop makes effects take much less work. I could go on all day. Technology is what creates growth, and those who refuse to learn the new technology deserve to be left behind.

avdempsey 15y ago
"Technology is what creates growth, and those who refuse to learn the new technology deserve to be left behind." You might be right, but it doesn't matter what people deserve. Unfortunately, you may find that those that are left behind will cause untenable social unrest. If job automation outpaces re-training by too great a rate you can kiss civil society goodbye. No one can hold automation back, but we can work to smooth out the anticipated pain. No matter how optimistic you are about growth, we need this spaceship to hold together!
intended 15y ago
An interesting case may be when technological growth outpaces societies ability to absorb it. Perhaps this is a case of one gear (tech progress) going faster than the others (humanity). Plus I would have to bring in another aspect - the fact that humans age, while machines/tech wont. When you/people grow older, its quite possible that they wont be nimble enough to jump and twist fast enough onto new platforms. In which case you/they are screwed. You can't assume that everyone is going to invest and save away and have perfect retirements/medical situations in their old age either.

avdempsey 15y ago

"Technology is what creates growth, and those who refuse to learn the new technology deserve to be left behind." You might be right, but it doesn't matter what people deserve. Unfortunately, you may find that those that are left behind will cause untenable social unrest. If job automation outpaces re-training by too great a rate you can kiss civil society goodbye. No one can hold automation back, but we can work to smooth out the anticipated pain. No matter how optimistic you are about growth, we need this spaceship to hold together!

intended 15y ago

An interesting case may be when technological growth outpaces societies ability to absorb it. Perhaps this is a case of one gear (tech progress) going faster than the others (humanity). Plus I would have to bring in another aspect - the fact that humans age, while machines/tech wont. When you/people grow older, its quite possible that they wont be nimble enough to jump and twist fast enough onto new platforms. In which case you/they are screwed. You can't assume that everyone is going to invest and save away and have perfect retirements/medical situations in their old age either.