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If you can ... train people to live without appeals to status, then perhaps. This is only true is we don't continue to descend into deflation. A paycheck is mo

If you can ... train people to live without appeals to status, then perhaps. This is only true is we don't continue to descend into deflation. A paycheck is more than just a paycheck; it's also an estimate of the value of service to others. I feel it's reasonably important to have some mechanism to steer activities by. This is difficult; it's easy to get trapped in careerism. What I am seeing more and more is that the technology can get in the way. Corporate IT just seems to get worse year by year.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago
The point is, the value of your activities to others is approaching zero for a good portion of the population. Automation etc are producing goods without the need for people. The majority of people no longer need to be 'steered' to do anything. In old stories it used to be called Utopia when people didn't work and robots did everything. Now we call it Unemployment and make it a bad thing. This will have to change.
- sukilot 12y ago
  I would love to have more time to take care of my kids or aging parents. There is no money in that, unless those people have money... The one thing machines will have a hard time getting good at is curing loneliness.
  - transfire 12y ago
    Now there in lies some real irony! Instead of staying home to spend more time with your kids and parents, you are going to have to work harder so you can buy a robot to stay home with your kids and parents. That's the future we are currently building. Ain't it brilliant!?
    - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
      Don't be silly. The robot do everything BUT care; we are then freed to care for one another. That's the whole goal!
- ArkyBeagle 12y ago
  "Utopia" means "no place". It will have to change. Then there's the possibility we just haven't happened on the right reciepe to keep people working. It's a huge shift in the basic assumptions of economics, one of which is "not every thing can get done."
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    Why assume people keep working? How about they become creative, or pursue education, or care for one another?
  - gnaritas 12y ago
    The question is the increasingly outdated notion of "needing to work", searching for ways to keep people working is rather missing the point being raised. People don't need work, they need a sense of accomplishment and meaning; work isn't the only method of obtaining that.

JoeAltmaier 12y ago

The point is, the value of your activities to others is approaching zero for a good portion of the population. Automation etc are producing goods without the need for people. The majority of people no longer need to be 'steered' to do anything. In old stories it used to be called Utopia when people didn't work and robots did everything. Now we call it Unemployment and make it a bad thing. This will have to change.

sukilot 12y ago
I would love to have more time to take care of my kids or aging parents. There is no money in that, unless those people have money... The one thing machines will have a hard time getting good at is curing loneliness.
- transfire 12y ago
  Now there in lies some real irony! Instead of staying home to spend more time with your kids and parents, you are going to have to work harder so you can buy a robot to stay home with your kids and parents. That's the future we are currently building. Ain't it brilliant!?
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    Don't be silly. The robot do everything BUT care; we are then freed to care for one another. That's the whole goal!
ArkyBeagle 12y ago
"Utopia" means "no place". It will have to change. Then there's the possibility we just haven't happened on the right reciepe to keep people working. It's a huge shift in the basic assumptions of economics, one of which is "not every thing can get done."
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  Why assume people keep working? How about they become creative, or pursue education, or care for one another?
- gnaritas 12y ago
  The question is the increasingly outdated notion of "needing to work", searching for ways to keep people working is rather missing the point being raised. People don't need work, they need a sense of accomplishment and meaning; work isn't the only method of obtaining that.