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This post is missing the forest for the trees. Hard problems are hard. Easy problems are easy. In a world where autonomy can only be purchased by wealth, any r
by FD3SA 13y ago
This post is missing the forest for the trees.
Hard problems are hard. Easy problems are easy. In a world where autonomy can only be purchased by wealth, any rational actor will spend his/her time optimizing the acquisition of wealth by solving easy problems as quickly as possible. This will then allow him/her the necessary autonomy to tackle hard problems.
This applies to all capital intensive endeavors of creation: science, film, software, hardware, etc. Even the least capital intensive endeavors such as pure mathematics require autonomy in the form of a guarantee of food, shelter, and healthcare to be viable in the long term.
As such, the solution is simple: Increase autonomy. But do we increase autonomy for everyone, or pick and choose winners?
The first strategy is basic income, and the second strategy is venture capital. Those involved in venture capital are now seeing the weaknesses in their own system, wherein picking and choosing winners will skew heavily towards the best signalers (i.e. marketers), rather than the most qualified/talented.
If VCs want to hedge their bets, they can put their lobbying money where their mouths are, and support basic income. This allows savants who are unable to market themselves the required freedom to work on their ideas with a tiny but guaranteed degree of autonomy. It is the equivalent of buying a Vangaurd index fund instead of picking and choosing stocks for a portfolio.
The winning strategy is to do both simultaneously.
- pyoung 13y agoI couldn't agree more. Realistically, I don't think we will ever reach a political consensus in the US that would allow for a basic income bill to pass through congress. More likely is that technology will eventually make most menial labor and jobs obsolete, resulting in a spike of unemployment which essentially forces the issue. Time will tell.
- FD3SA 13y agoIf history is any indication, mass unemployment is exactly what will need to happen. Arguably it is already happening in Europe, where a significant portion of the population have no competitive advantage that meets the minimum wage in a massive free market like the EU. I do hope that certain countries, such as Canada or Germany, will take a preventative approach rather than wait till the malignancy of unemployment metastasizes, causing unnecessary and irreversible harm to the fabric of society.
- mynegation 13y agoI'd really like to know how basic income is supposed to work to boost creation. In fact we have something that supports people that proved their basic level of knowledge and creativity. It is called grants. And may be R&D tax incentives. But basic income for everyone to me now looks like casting the net that is two wide. Many people will just stop working and will sit in front of the TV with pizza. Is there any research on how different forms of incentives, like tax breaks, grants, basic income affect (or may affect) the rate of innovation? To me that sounds like something worth of Nobel prize in economics if successful.
- arg01 13y agoMincome (a trial of basic income in Canada) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mincome would likely be relevant. Though I haven't read anything with regards to improved creativity, the effect on the labour force was minimal with positive social effects.
- enra 13y agoIn Finland, like in many Nordic countries, you kind of have "basic income", not exactly though since it requires you to jump through some hoops. Basically if you don't have income, or wealth, the state pays your living expenses and gives you some income to live on. However, I have ever met anyone who use this to work on something creative (I'm sure there are some). Many of them just don't like to work or have a career, and a way of life that sometimes also transfers to their children. One exception could be Linus, because created Linux while he was studying, there for receiving "studying income" from state. But usually smart people tend to get jobs, start companies, or freelance a bit to live and work on something. I think minimal grant system would be better where you should have defined a focus what you're going to work on. Although problem might be that could be too short term thing again.