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Comment by Tyrek | Hacker News Reader

Consider an alternative angle - Companies, as rational actors, will eliminate automatable positions. Unless you're suggesting some sort of deliberate intervention to save these jobs, they're gone.

The next question is how do we assist those displaced by automation. There are multiple proposals including UBI and its ilk, but the most palatable bipartisan idea is to find them new jobs.

The idea of finding 'better' jobs with more agency, etc. is not immensely new - it draws from organization research on employee fulfillment and productivity.

Overall, no one is saying that any specifically displaced individual needs to take up <new job> in some sort of imagined totalitarian state - they're perfectly free to choose a new job from the market. The only question is one of skills and motivation.

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I'd suggest people learn how to do plumbing and electrical work. It's not work that can be easily automated, and plumbers are often charging more than lawyers.

The fact is, there is a LOT of room for people to work and grow. The typical factory job is significantly waning, and will continue to do so. Local service oriented jobs are far less likely to be outsourced at all. "Dirty jobs" in particular tend to pay well, and are pretty damned safe from outsourcing.

The bigger issues are more societal and likely to worsen with roughly 2/3 of those in higher education being women, and over 70% of women unwilling to date/marry those of a lower social/education status, even with matching income.

The highest satisfactions in life, generally speaking, come from earned work:income and family engagement.

> I'd suggest people learn how to do plumbing and electrical work. It's not work that can be easily automated, and plumbers are often charging more than lawyers.

It mostly just that people don't understand what automation is, and especially not many of the self-proclaimed experts. You automate things like electrical work like you "automate" Uber, by making it unskilled. You put all the logic in the terminal, if not the cables, so almost anyone can do it. In a longer time span you might just change the whole wiring to something else, like lower powered dc.

That said there is no need to go crazy. We are undergoing a second industrial revolution with information instead of energy, but overall the same rules apply. If we just make things better for people we will be alright.

>The bigger issues are more societal and likely to worsen with roughly 2/3 of those in higher education being women, and over 70% of women unwilling to date/marry those of a lower social/education status, even with matching income.

Depends on your perspective. As a single man with his life together in his early 30's I'm finding life good. Is this societies problem or a problem for these women?

As society is dependent on a growing youth to support senior care, it depends on your POV.

Because you specifically are doing well, doesn't mean society is. Directly, the women in particular are not harmed, but statistically less happy. Changing perspectives on a broader level would help a lot in any case.

Growth cannot continue forever. At some stage we will need to stabilise or reduce the population. I'm expecting that I'll be working until close to 70 and I think others should prepare for the same. If you're hoping for 35 years of retirement then you should have a lot of money put aside.

As for women, this is their own choosing. If you want to "have fun" with the most attractive men (looks, status, wealth) you can from 18 to 28 before you look for a partner then you shouldn't be surprised when the men who will settle down with you don't live up to the standards you're used to. There is only so many of these men and they're happy to oblige fun but commitment isn't so easy. There was a post yesterday showing how many young men are completely missing out on sexual interaction.

> I'd suggest people learn how to do plumbing and electrical work

This might be a solution for some people, but it's not a long term solution for everyone. As people age, their bodies deteriorate. An injury might put someone out of work temporarily, or forever. Manual labor becomes more difficult, or outright impossible, for people entering their 40s, 50s and 60s.

>2/3 of those in higher education being women, and over 70% of women unwilling to date/marry those of a lower social/education status

Modern hypergamy (Tinder) will create more childless single women in their 40s+ than human civilization has ever seen.

Electrical/plumbing is a great idea. The ultimate job I think is robot repairman, because by the time that is automated we're all screwed anyway.

But consider exercise. Society automated a lot of manual labor and people still need to exercise, even though it's a blatantly wasteful use of energy. It's even more inefficient than digging holes and filling them again, because it's not even good for the soil. But it's important for people to do it.

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