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During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to surviv

by gregcrv 12y ago

During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to survive, but living lives and do whatever they want. Progress in technology is now fueled by capitalism and better productivity rather that original goal and it's sad that people have forgotten that goal.... Society needs to continue push the chnage and accept to progressively give up their jobs to machines.

crpatino 12y ago
> During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to survive, but living lives and do whatever they want. No, that's actually propaganda. The goal was always to show those pesky, skillful, artisans their true place in society. The means was to embed as much as possible of their tacit knowledge either in machines or in soft, human, procedures/standards/rules/policies. Then, the owner class would go back to control all the means of production and have the destinies of their faithful serfs on their hands. The fact that this process brought unprecedented prosperity was a happy side effect that nobody gave much thought at the time. Then the whole process was rationalized on those bases when the social sensitivities of the serfs became too self conscious.
sanderjd 12y ago
There seem to be two troubling problems with this idea. First, we haven't figured out how to distribute wealth and prestige in such a society, and we haven't figured out how to be a society where wealth and prestige don't matter. Second, we haven't figured out what most people will actually do in such a society, and while some of the possibilities are good things like familial, creative, and scientific endeavors, many are bad things like violence and sloth. I'm all for it, if we can figure out some solutions to these issues!
zo1 12y ago
"During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to survive, but living lives and do whatever they want." I'm curious what gave you that impression? If you have links/references, I'm all ears.

by gregcrv 12y ago

crpatino 12y ago

> During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to survive, but living lives and do whatever they want. No, that's actually propaganda. The goal was always to show those pesky, skillful, artisans their true place in society. The means was to embed as much as possible of their tacit knowledge either in machines or in soft, human, procedures/standards/rules/policies. Then, the owner class would go back to control all the means of production and have the destinies of their faithful serfs on their hands. The fact that this process brought unprecedented prosperity was a happy side effect that nobody gave much thought at the time. Then the whole process was rationalized on those bases when the social sensitivities of the serfs became too self conscious.

sanderjd 12y ago

There seem to be two troubling problems with this idea. First, we haven't figured out how to distribute wealth and prestige in such a society, and we haven't figured out how to be a society where wealth and prestige don't matter. Second, we haven't figured out what most people will actually do in such a society, and while some of the possibilities are good things like familial, creative, and scientific endeavors, many are bad things like violence and sloth. I'm all for it, if we can figure out some solutions to these issues!

zo1 12y ago

"During the industrial revolution, the goal of progress in technology (and machines to be more specific) was always to, one day, have no humans working to survive, but living lives and do whatever they want." I'm curious what gave you that impression? If you have links/references, I'm all ears.