So low skill workers find it harder and harder to find jobs. No surprise here.
Automation, bitches.
Automation, bitches.
However, with where we seem to be heading, I sometimes even feel bad for working in tech.
Also, don't define "creative potential" as "high IQ". IQ is just an arbitrary measure which correlates with intelligence (and even that is controversial).
I think that is the standard definition, yes.
What if he hadn't become a janitor in the first place? What if he had spent all of his youth learning about anything that really makes him tick?
I know - lots of "what if's" but that's exactly what I thought when I was a kid, we would get these kind of answers.
Hope some day we can.
>In the 80's-90's there was this common meme that automation would result in a more equal world where people could use their creative potential instead of doing repetitive jobs.
Global communicators that fit in the pocket, 40 inch high definition flat panel view screens, game systems with unimaginable processing power and graphics. Most people can't even sign up for basic cable without getting a time shifting miracle-machine or a basic cell phone account without being handed a damn tri-corder.
No argument that inequality of wealth is growing rapidly, but its good to remember that total wealth is growing too and even the poorest are benefiting.
What we really need to do is pull all of the parasites out of our health-care services and allow this magic to happen down there as well before the have-nots figure out it doesn't matter whats on your giant TV if you can't afford those patented, insurance inflated, heart pills and decide maybe its time once again to dust off the guillotines for another go at the rich.
But I'm not sure if he thought everything was working out...
I'm not even floating a guess as to whether or not he'd be homeless if it not for that automation. That's a much larger and more complicated debate.
On the balance, I'm still betting that more automation makes better lives for more people, even if it seems to increase inequality in the short run.
I wait patiently for the day when mankind looks at himself in a collective mirror and says, "Know what?, everything's so good now that we don't need all of this inequality." I think this is an essential step in man becoming a semi-eternal space-faring species instead of one that just drives itself to extinction.
That isn't the only dynamic, but I think looking to technology (increased efficiency) to do ALL the work in solving human problems (domination) is, well, naive. Some of the work -- yes, and making it possible at all -- often.
I enjoyed it thoroughly and I'd say it has the potential to make you think deeper about low-skill workers, automation and where our future is headed.
Can't comment much on it because I'm afraid to give spoilers, but it was a very enjoying read that got me thinking in lots of things.
Thanks again!