At some point we must get rid of all the humans on earth to keep up economic growth. Not entirely joking. Since companies are legal entities and can be run by algorithms, then it's possible that such non-human companies end up with all the capital and all the power. Of course nations and legal systems will also be automatized, with maximum growth as the objective. Then the algorithms can just starve people to death i…
Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
11–20 of 48 posts
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#12What I don't understand about the Blockchain hype (and I say that as a fan of Bitcoin): isn't the primary problem it solves the avoidance of double spending? Or in the case of Ethereum, perhaps double contracts. But still, the issue seems a bit overblown to me: to double spend (or present fake contracts, or more generally, fake data), you somehow have to isolate the victims network before injecting the fake transacti…
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#13What I don't understand about the Blockchain hype (and I say that as a fan of Bitcoin): isn't the primary problem it solves the avoidance of double spending? Or in the case of Ethereum, perhaps double contracts. But still, the issue seems a bit overblown to me: to double spend (or present fake contracts, or more generally, fake data), you somehow have to isolate the victims network before injecting the fake transacti…
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#14Companies are simply a tool that helps a group of people to make a profit. If you remove the group of people then what would be the point?
Not-for-profit companies shouldn't exist then?
However, most companies provide value to customers. This article proposes companies that do so without any staff or owners. I don't think that's very realistic, but it is intriguing.
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#15Companies are simply a tool that helps a group of people to make a profit. If you remove the group of people then what would be the point?
[1] http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/jan/20/oxfam-85-ric...
Edit: clearer argument
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#16Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not-for-profit companies shouldn't exist then?
Most nonprofits are still profitable for the staff. Sometimes immensely profitable, for the CEOs at least. However, most companies provide value to customers. This article proposes companies that do so without any staff or owners. I don't think that's very realistic, but it is intriguing.
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#17Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#18Companies are simply a tool that helps a group of people to make a profit. If you remove the group of people then what would be the point?
In some contexts we have nearly removed all the people in this equation already. 85 people own as much as about half the world's population [1]. So, capitalism in the form we have it today, which includes companies, are simply a way to concentrate wealth among the few. Some of these few use the money IMO vicely, but a more equitable system would probably work better. I say this after having lived and worked in the US…
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#19Companies are simply a tool that helps a group of people to make a profit. If you remove the group of people then what would be the point?
In some contexts we have nearly removed all the people in this equation already. 85 people own as much as about half the world's population [1]. So, capitalism in the form we have it today, which includes companies, are simply a way to concentrate wealth among the few. Some of these few use the money IMO vicely, but a more equitable system would probably work better. I say this after having lived and worked in the US…
Re: Humans Who Dream Of Companies That Won't Need Us
#20What I don't understand about the Blockchain hype (and I say that as a fan of Bitcoin): isn't the primary problem it solves the avoidance of double spending? Or in the case of Ethereum, perhaps double contracts. But still, the issue seems a bit overblown to me: to double spend (or present fake contracts, or more generally, fake data), you somehow have to isolate the victims network before injecting the fake transacti…
Registering Planet Money's Delaware company took one day and three emails. The company that set it up for us asked for absolutely no documentation. I gave them my real name, but I could have been anybody from anywhere in the world.
http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2012/07/27/157421340/how-t...
Of course, opening a bank account to receive the income of those rides would be a different story.