Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
1–10 of 87 posts
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#2I'm not sure the number of jobs is that related to the amount of work needing to be done. It's more people like doing something and so will tend to do so. Otherwise as the number of people employed in agriculture dropped from like 70% to 2% over a couple of centuries it would of led to 68% sitting about. But instead they invent new things to do - say interior design or computer game design. Whether the person designing interiors counts as having a job or a hobby is down to whether people exchange money for the service which they tend to do in a way that is not terribly effected by what technology is involved.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out when robots get smart. My guess is people will still work on their novels, designing stuff, acting and the like.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#3Even if you accept that the trend of more jobs being created by technology than are being destroyed will continue indefinitely, fretting over technology replacing you if you're taxi driver is very justified. Having to learn a completely new trade is not easy.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#4Hopefully the trend is shifting soon.
Let's just hope that the way we distribute wealth changes simultaneously, otherwise a lot of people will suffer.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#5I have no real doubt this is true, but what may be different in today's situation is that something akin to true "artificial general intelligence" is not completely unfeasible (or something close enough to it that there's no practical difference). This is quite different to previous technological revolutions, where it was primarily manual labour that was automated. We seem to have in general conceded that many of those types of tasks can be better done by machines (with the exception of our adaptable intelligence, but how long will that be unique to us?).
Now, people who are displaced by technology can move on to other things, but what happens if there really is nothing we're better at than a computer, in say 100 years?
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#6But is it the same elsewhere?
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#7If this is true (and I take these things with an enormous grain of salt), it is an unfortunate thing. Tools are created to get rid of jobs, yet they create yet more work?
In a rational society, more jobs being destroyed would be something to be celebrated. It is a sign of a sick culture in which it would be seen as a bad thing.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#8I'm not sure the number of jobs is that related to the amount of work needing to be done. It's more people like doing something and so will tend to do so. Otherwise as the number of people employed in agriculture dropped from like 70% to 2% over a couple of centuries it would of led to 68% sitting about. But instead they invent new things to do - say interior design or computer game design. Whether the person designi…
If the only change is robots doing the jobs instead of people, my guess is most people will be starving to death on the streets.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#9What this is actually showing is that wages continued to increase and the discretionary income that people had went back in the economy and the people found things to do that they could charge money for. So yes as long as there is money, people will find things to offer other people. That has not much to do with technology but more with the circulation of money.
Re: Technology has created more jobs than it has destroyed, says 140 years of data
#10I'm not sure the number of jobs is that related to the amount of work needing to be done. It's more people like doing something and so will tend to do so. Otherwise as the number of people employed in agriculture dropped from like 70% to 2% over a couple of centuries it would of led to 68% sitting about. But instead they invent new things to do - say interior design or computer game design. Whether the person designi…
>It's more people like doing something and so will tend to do so
You're putting the cart before the horse (or I misunderstood you).
People have less they are required to do and use time they would have spent tending to their farm to ensure their survival, to pursue novelty and comfort instead.
But people aren't great at entertaining themselves, so a lot of people are employed in the business of entertaining others.
Comfort is also something that doesn't come easily, so a lot of people are employed in the business of doing menial tasks (like cooking and cleaning) for others, or producing furniture or machines that enhance our comfort.