3 ms·

Robotic Nation

5 points by jmtame 18y ago

devicenull 18y ago
I've often wondered when we were going to see automated kisoks for ordering food. Apparently, very soon. Now if only we could improve these a bit. For example, give everyone a RFID "membership card". When you approach the machine, it greets you and displays your favorite foods at that place, or configures the kisok to how you like it. It seems like if I scan my membership card at one of the current automated checkouts, it should recognize the fact that I've shut the voice prompts off every time, and do it automatically.
scrod 18y ago
The short of it: in a fully automated society, it is simply infeasible to have 100% (or even 50%, with most jobs moving into the service sector) employment. Thus he proposes a $25,000/yr/person stipend funded from a combination of sources, including high marginal rates on new tax brackets for multi-million-dollar corporate salaries, various sales taxes, and the full reallocation of social spending in almost all other areas. The result would be a complete elimination of poverty, the stigma of welfare, wage slavery, and the social security solvency problem, leading to a "supercharging" of capitalism via massive increases in consumption and ultimately "true economic freedom". I find this proposal very appealing, yet lacking in other core respects; e.g., those countries and entities with the greatest access to natural resources will continue to be the root sources of growth, and as money is simply a tool for distributing wealth, it inevitably adapts to reflect the availability of wealth. Maybe he's also assuming energy from pervasive nuclear fusion? I was waiting for him to mention gift economies, but he seems to love the profit system too much to accept its fundamental infeasibility in the long term.
- gravitycop 18y ago
  I was waiting for him to mention gift economies Isn't Brain's "Australia" basically a gift economy? http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna6.htm http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna6.htm In Australia, these people could completely fulfill themselves, and humanity would be much better off because of their contributions. Creative people want to -- need to -- create. That is their passion. Instead of millions of talented people working in jobs that had nothing to do with their dreams, simply to make ends meet, in Australia they could follow their dreams. The goal in Australia is to encourage and nurture creativity and innovation. [...] It meant an amazing level of creativity and innovation in every product category -- food, housing, architecture, vacation resorts, restaurants, furniture. Whether it was basic research or final consumer products, innovation was everywhere. The innovators had the ability to take their research/inventions/ideas as far as they could.

5 points by jmtame 18y ago

I've often wondered when we were going to see automated kisoks for ordering food. Apparently, very soon. Now if only we could improve these a bit. For example, give everyone a RFID "membership card". When you approach the machine, it greets you and displays your favorite foods at that place, or configures the kisok to how you like it. It seems like if I scan my membership card at one of the current automated checkouts, it should recognize the fact that I've shut the voice prompts off every time, and do it automatically.

scrod 18y ago

The short of it: in a fully automated society, it is simply infeasible to have 100% (or even 50%, with most jobs moving into the service sector) employment. Thus he proposes a $25,000/yr/person stipend funded from a combination of sources, including high marginal rates on new tax brackets for multi-million-dollar corporate salaries, various sales taxes, and the full reallocation of social spending in almost all other areas. The result would be a complete elimination of poverty, the stigma of welfare, wage slavery, and the social security solvency problem, leading to a "supercharging" of capitalism via massive increases in consumption and ultimately "true economic freedom". I find this proposal very appealing, yet lacking in other core respects; e.g., those countries and entities with the greatest access to natural resources will continue to be the root sources of growth, and as money is simply a tool for distributing wealth, it inevitably adapts to reflect the availability of wealth. Maybe he's also assuming energy from pervasive nuclear fusion? I was waiting for him to mention gift economies, but he seems to love the profit system too much to accept its fundamental infeasibility in the long term.

gravitycop 18y ago
I was waiting for him to mention gift economies Isn't Brain's "Australia" basically a gift economy? http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna6.htm http://www.marshallbrain.com/manna6.htm In Australia, these people could completely fulfill themselves, and humanity would be much better off because of their contributions. Creative people want to -- need to -- create. That is their passion. Instead of millions of talented people working in jobs that had nothing to do with their dreams, simply to make ends meet, in Australia they could follow their dreams. The goal in Australia is to encourage and nurture creativity and innovation. [...] It meant an amazing level of creativity and innovation in every product category -- food, housing, architecture, vacation resorts, restaurants, furniture. Whether it was basic research or final consumer products, innovation was everywhere. The innovators had the ability to take their research/inventions/ideas as far as they could.