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Replacing is better than helping, though. It frees people up to develop capital – the very source of progress you speak of! More capital development, more progr
by randomdata 2y ago
Replacing is better than helping, though. It frees people up to develop capital – the very source of progress you speak of! More capital development, more progress.
If you still have to do the same job, but better, then you aren't be freed up for a higher level purpose. If we had taken your stance in earlier days of human history we'd all still be out standing in the field. Doing it slightly better perhaps, but still there, "wasting" time.
No, we are clearly better off that almost every job from the past was replaced. And we will be better off when our current jobs are replaced so that our time is freed up so to move onto the next big thing.
You don't think we have reached the pinnacle of human achievement already, surely?
- croes 2y agoCapital is a tool for progress not the source. Newton, Einstein etc. didn’t do neither for nor by the capital. And we all know that those “freed” people are less likely to gain any capital.
- randomdata 2y agoSome schools would consider their ideas capital. But, regardless, if what they did wasn't useful in the development of capital, nobody would have cared. It is their contributions to capital development that have made them household names.
- croes 2y agoI doubt that the contribution to capital development made Newton and Einstein household names. When the giant magnetoresistance was discovered it wasn’t useful at first. if all is capital focused we likely miss those discoveries.
- randomdata 2y agoWell, let's put it to the test. What "useless" scientific discovery has given someone a household name in recent years?
- croes 2y agoWhat useful discovery has given someone a household name in recent years? Household names are more likely celebrities than scientists.
- randomdata 2y agoHinton has become a household name, at least here in Canada. But only within recent years as his discoveries have now proven useful in capital creation. Nobody knew who he was in the 1980s when his discoveries were "useless". Which stands to reason. People only think about you if you do something for them. Newton and Einstein enabled the creation of capital that changed the world, so they are remembered. The guy who discovered something amazing beside them, but that which we still haven't figured out how to use, remains unknown.
- croes 2y agoMaybe we should define household first. Are we talking about HN households or average Joe‘s
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- randomdata 2y agoAverage Canadian Joe, at least. I don't expect anyone in Zimbabwe knows who he is, just as I cannot name a single person in Zimbabwe despite being sure they too have household names. His capital enablements, while significant, haven't become world changing.
- croes 2y agoIs it because he won the Nobel Prize or more of a longer lasting fame? But I doubt people could name a winner after he’s out of the news. Maybe Canada is different.