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There seems to be a lot of automation anxiety on HN lately. If an article is not about the NSA it's about how 100 million jobs are about to vanish into thin air

by nsxwolf 13y ago

There seems to be a lot of automation anxiety on HN lately. If an article is not about the NSA it's about how 100 million jobs are about to vanish into thin air and we need a guaranteed income, the theory that people are freed up to do other jobs is bunk because we've reached the end of the line, etc... I wonder if we're really that close to the end of jobs, or if we are just suffering from a lack of imagination.

doktrin 13y ago
It's eminently possible, if not likely, that the way the future will actually unfold differs from our current predictions (on HN, or elsewhere). However, you work with what you've got. If our best model for the future involves the progressive automation of all human labour - it makes sense to at least theorize (if not plan) for that eventuality. If the situation turns out to not be dire - great - but you plan for the worst, as the axiom goes.
TeMPOraL 13y ago
> I wonder if we're really that close to the end of jobs, or if we are just suffering from a lack of imagination. Maybe, but I personally believe that people saying that we don't have to worry about that suffer from the lack of imagination - the very same kind as the one that leads some to say things like "we can't / won't be able to do that". If there's one thing last 100 years of progress have proved, it is that we can do pretty much everything as long as we care about it strongly enough. Some people warn against believing in power of technology too much; I say people believe in it too little.