3 ms·

What’s the sense of accomplishment you get from doing what another human being can do too right now? Psychologically, if you treat robots as people (albeit per

What’s the sense of accomplishment you get from doing what another human being can do too right now? Psychologically, if you treat robots as people (albeit permanent slow witted, naturally compliant servants) then it’s easy to image a post scarcity world. We will all simply live like the upper class lives today except our servants and employees are made of silicon instead of flesh. Normal people would compete in the same way CEOs compete, by comparing how well they actually manage their resources.

incomingpain 5y ago
>What’s the sense of accomplishment you get from doing what another human being can do too right now? So that's interesting right. Yes a plumber coming over could be replaced by a bot. But ultimately that bot replaces you as well. >Psychologically, if you treat robots as people (albeit permanent slow witted, naturally compliant servants) then it’s easy to image a post scarcity world. We will all simply live like the upper class lives today except our servants and employees are made of silicon instead of flesh. Like the instant I can buy a robot butler who will keep my house clean and cook me dinner. I do it. They will likely be in the $30-50,000 range. I'm getting that asap. >Normal people would compete in the same way CEOs compete, by comparing how well they actually manage their resources. It'll actually shift the economy to creativity. Robots make building an iphone ultra cheap but some person still needs to engineer and design it.
- true_religion 5y ago
  I guess the unanswered question is did we humans make a society because we like people or did we make it simply because we needed goods and services? If it’s the former, then society will still exist because we yearn for human interaction. I might buy a book written by a bot, but I’ll still discuss it with my friends. Could my friends be replaced by bots? Maybe, but in the same vein my friends could be replaced by strangers but I don’t do that because of human fixation on individuals (e.g. I care what Joe thinks because he is Joe, no substitutions are allowed). However, if the later applies then society collapses except for the very few people who can create bots better than the bots can create themselves and the monarchs who managed to seize ownership of all the armed drones first.
  - incomingpain 5y ago
    >I guess the unanswered question is did we humans make a society because we like people or did we make it simply because we needed goods and services? This is being studied in depth right now. Metro Toronto has around 6 million people. You know how many people that's above optimal society size? Around 6 million. The optimum city size is less than 500 people. Scientifically proven fact, but how can cities fix this problem? People point to Paris where neighbourhoods are designed around being self-sufficient. Some point of Israeli settlements and such. I don't personally think we know the answer. It's happening in Africa right now. People from the west have gone there and have introduced economics and how to work together to build a pencil. There's a ted talk I can't find that goes into 'bring your donuts to the market, you will sell more and therefore have more to buy' etc. >If it’s the former, then society will still exist because we yearn for human interaction. Society is not about humans it seems. > I might buy a book written by a bot, but I’ll still discuss it with my friends. Could my friends be replaced by bots? Maybe, but in the same vein my friends could be replaced by strangers but I don’t do that because of human fixation on individuals (e.g. I care what Joe thinks because he is Joe, no substitutions are allowed). Or you discuss it on HN. Cant really discuss it with a bot. >However, if the later applies then society collapses except for the very few people who can create bots better than the bots can create themselves and the monarchs who managed to seize ownership of all the armed drones first. Society spreads out. I'm not worried about death robots and terminators. As the cost of owning 100 acres in the middle of nowhere with your own seeded pond and internet fiber right to the house is basically 0. Robots build all those things for you. Big cities collapse for sure but small communities of close families and friends will be where it's at.

incomingpain 5y ago

>What’s the sense of accomplishment you get from doing what another human being can do too right now? So that's interesting right. Yes a plumber coming over could be replaced by a bot. But ultimately that bot replaces you as well. >Psychologically, if you treat robots as people (albeit permanent slow witted, naturally compliant servants) then it’s easy to image a post scarcity world. We will all simply live like the upper class lives today except our servants and employees are made of silicon instead of flesh. Like the instant I can buy a robot butler who will keep my house clean and cook me dinner. I do it. They will likely be in the $30-50,000 range. I'm getting that asap. >Normal people would compete in the same way CEOs compete, by comparing how well they actually manage their resources. It'll actually shift the economy to creativity. Robots make building an iphone ultra cheap but some person still needs to engineer and design it.

true_religion 5y ago
I guess the unanswered question is did we humans make a society because we like people or did we make it simply because we needed goods and services? If it’s the former, then society will still exist because we yearn for human interaction. I might buy a book written by a bot, but I’ll still discuss it with my friends. Could my friends be replaced by bots? Maybe, but in the same vein my friends could be replaced by strangers but I don’t do that because of human fixation on individuals (e.g. I care what Joe thinks because he is Joe, no substitutions are allowed). However, if the later applies then society collapses except for the very few people who can create bots better than the bots can create themselves and the monarchs who managed to seize ownership of all the armed drones first.
- incomingpain 5y ago
  >I guess the unanswered question is did we humans make a society because we like people or did we make it simply because we needed goods and services? This is being studied in depth right now. Metro Toronto has around 6 million people. You know how many people that's above optimal society size? Around 6 million. The optimum city size is less than 500 people. Scientifically proven fact, but how can cities fix this problem? People point to Paris where neighbourhoods are designed around being self-sufficient. Some point of Israeli settlements and such. I don't personally think we know the answer. It's happening in Africa right now. People from the west have gone there and have introduced economics and how to work together to build a pencil. There's a ted talk I can't find that goes into 'bring your donuts to the market, you will sell more and therefore have more to buy' etc. >If it’s the former, then society will still exist because we yearn for human interaction. Society is not about humans it seems. > I might buy a book written by a bot, but I’ll still discuss it with my friends. Could my friends be replaced by bots? Maybe, but in the same vein my friends could be replaced by strangers but I don’t do that because of human fixation on individuals (e.g. I care what Joe thinks because he is Joe, no substitutions are allowed). Or you discuss it on HN. Cant really discuss it with a bot. >However, if the later applies then society collapses except for the very few people who can create bots better than the bots can create themselves and the monarchs who managed to seize ownership of all the armed drones first. Society spreads out. I'm not worried about death robots and terminators. As the cost of owning 100 acres in the middle of nowhere with your own seeded pond and internet fiber right to the house is basically 0. Robots build all those things for you. Big cities collapse for sure but small communities of close families and friends will be where it's at.