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Poverty, war, and starvation are all political and/or cultural problems, not technical problems. To a large extent so is suffering, deadly pollution, insanitar

Poverty, war, and starvation are all political and/or cultural problems, not technical problems. To a large extent so is suffering, deadly pollution, insanitary living conditions, and underfunded schools and healthcare. So pretty much everyone is not working on these problems in a capacity that matters. If you want to be, you need to be in the realm of politics, not technology.

nwienert 4y ago
They are largely cultural and corruption problems. And the biggest parts of the corruption problem is inherent to this conversation - wealthy people have massive advantages at maintaining and increasing wealth whereas the poor have almost none. This sort of tech will accelerate that, and if not stopped, a modern French Revolution is waiting (or just dystopia).
- baq 4y ago
  Dystopia is more likely, because why would a wealthy kleptocratic dictator need citizens… there’s no upside compared to AI and robots.
pjmorris 4y ago
> Poverty, war, and starvation are all political and/or cultural problems, not technical problems. I beg to differ. Currency, weaponry, and agriculture are all technologies.
- zelphirkalt 4y ago
  The problem however is not that we do not have the technology to help others. The problem is its distribution on this planet. It almost does not matter what you invent, unless it reaches the places, where it is actually needed. And that is a political and cultural problem.
  - pjmorris 4y ago
    I don't disagree that there is a distribution problem. And I firmly adhere to Gerald Weinberg's advice on giving advice on technical problems: "No matter what it looks like, it's a people problem." [0] That said, my point is to not excuse technology. Currency and agriculture were both technical solutions to problems of poverty and starvation and I don't see a reason to exclude it from taking responsibility now. [0] 'Secrets of Consulting', Gerald Weinberg
  - anigbrowl 4y ago
    Distribution is a technical problem. Politics and violence maintain the existing channels of distribution. That's a different kind of problem, but one which technology can also be brought to bear. It just requires some lateral thinking and a willingness to make enemies.
  - nojvek 4y ago
    politics/governance and culture are a technology problem too in a way. One could easily solve the problems you mentioned if you had abundant cheap energy and millions of cheap robots that efficiently distribute food/goods on the planet. A system that could keep track of resources of the planet and efficiently provide a minimum level of food, shelter, safety for everyone. There’d still be the gradient of “if you work hard and create value for others, you get to keep your gains”. However the taxes paid would create a minimum bar of opportunity access for everyone. One could say that what we need is a resource driven economy instead of a simple capitalistic economy that yields to monopolies and too much power in few hands.
- PointyFluff 4y ago

nwienert 4y ago

They are largely cultural and corruption problems. And the biggest parts of the corruption problem is inherent to this conversation - wealthy people have massive advantages at maintaining and increasing wealth whereas the poor have almost none. This sort of tech will accelerate that, and if not stopped, a modern French Revolution is waiting (or just dystopia).

baq 4y ago
Dystopia is more likely, because why would a wealthy kleptocratic dictator need citizens… there’s no upside compared to AI and robots.

pjmorris 4y ago

> Poverty, war, and starvation are all political and/or cultural problems, not technical problems. I beg to differ. Currency, weaponry, and agriculture are all technologies.

zelphirkalt 4y ago
The problem however is not that we do not have the technology to help others. The problem is its distribution on this planet. It almost does not matter what you invent, unless it reaches the places, where it is actually needed. And that is a political and cultural problem.
- pjmorris 4y ago
  I don't disagree that there is a distribution problem. And I firmly adhere to Gerald Weinberg's advice on giving advice on technical problems: "No matter what it looks like, it's a people problem." [0] That said, my point is to not excuse technology. Currency and agriculture were both technical solutions to problems of poverty and starvation and I don't see a reason to exclude it from taking responsibility now. [0] 'Secrets of Consulting', Gerald Weinberg
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  Distribution is a technical problem. Politics and violence maintain the existing channels of distribution. That's a different kind of problem, but one which technology can also be brought to bear. It just requires some lateral thinking and a willingness to make enemies.
- nojvek 4y ago
  politics/governance and culture are a technology problem too in a way. One could easily solve the problems you mentioned if you had abundant cheap energy and millions of cheap robots that efficiently distribute food/goods on the planet. A system that could keep track of resources of the planet and efficiently provide a minimum level of food, shelter, safety for everyone. There’d still be the gradient of “if you work hard and create value for others, you get to keep your gains”. However the taxes paid would create a minimum bar of opportunity access for everyone. One could say that what we need is a resource driven economy instead of a simple capitalistic economy that yields to monopolies and too much power in few hands.
PointyFluff 4y ago