contemplating the future

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Posted by: stak
Posted on: 2005-01-09 13:06:45

i just read the robotic nation article (http://www.marshallbrain.com/robotic-nation.htm).. i agree with it mostly in that robots will take over most of the non-creative jobs in the economy, and that most people will be out of a job, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

with robots in the education sector, the cost of an education should drop dramatically, perhaps being entirely subsidized by government. with robots in agriculture, food will be dramatically cheaper. same goes for other basic necessities of life. in fact, i'm hoping that all the basic necessities will be provided free of charge to everybody. goodbye to homelessness and starvation.

the concept of money as we know it now will be outdated.. people will work not to earn money but because they want a challenge. i don't think money will be completely gone, and that people who work will still be given money, with which they can afford extra luxuries not available to others. so "poverty" will still exist, but again, "poor" people will be living at the level that low/medium-income people live today.

with unlimited education being free, people will be a lot smarter. research and development will increase dramatically, leading to even better robots and the whole cycle will accelerate. same goes for the artistic side of things - there will be a lot more people with a lot of spare time on their hands, and far more "art" will be created (whether what is created is actually art is up for debate).

i also hope that once that happens, we will focus our energies outward, to space travel. spaceships by the 24th century? i think it's definitely feasible. perhaps not warp drive, but i believe somebody will invent some kind of propulsion system that isn't as messy as the burning-fuel-for-thrust that we're using today.

ah.. after some more reading, this is very much what i had in mind.

Posted by Robb at 2005-01-16 02:30:49

Are people actually able to not work? Is food going to actually be so incredibly cheap that it can be given away? [haven't followed link]
And I actually think that teaching is a creative job, if you're a good teacher.

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Posted by kats at 2005-01-16 13:44:48

I don't think anybody knows for sure, but I think it probably will. I'm pretty sure that most agricultural work can be automated, and if you add solar power to the mix, it's practically free.

And yeah, I guess actually making the lecture interesting is a creative job, but the rest of it (testing, marking, etc) can probably be automated. Plus, if you make the lecture interesting once, just record it and replay the holographic video for the next class. Kinda like DE. Should cut down on costs, at any rate.

In general, it could go either way.. you should read the whole story at http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm (it's only 8 short chapters - doesn't take that long).

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