111–120 of 224 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good point - the graph being US only means it misses offshoring manufacturing jobs to places like China. We can't assume that the loss of manufacturing jobs was solely caused by automation
Why call it 'loss', if it was outsourced? UnAmericans are also human.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems increasingly likely to me that we're going to see the standard sci-fi script flipped. Instead of AI and robots doing grunt work for humans, AI will be doing most of the decision making, perhaps guided by a small human elite, and humans will do most of the grunt work. Making machines that think will turn out to be a lot cheaper and easier than building machines that can do general purpose physical work. Peopl…
People are pretty expensive. So far we have automated more and more, including and especially grunt work. Why would grunt work come back? Especially if you have machines that can help you design more efficient machines, and can help you re-design production processes to be more efficient and amenable to further automation.
If you're willing to deny them all that then they're cheap and easy to replace.
Whereas building a machine that can do even the basics of what a human hand can do is quite expensive.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The end game is that average human becomes a pet. Horses weren't needed and they became pets; same for average human. This can only happen perfectly if the manufacturers eventually start to come after those who are self-reliant, which I believe is in line with the psychology of humans. Funny thing is this is ALSO analogous to what we have done certain animals.
Onlypets.com. I see the future now.
It's no longer human culture in animal nature; but owner culture in anthroposcenic nature.
What happens when one that can live centuries in an intellectual enlightened form lives in a world of pollutatition, cities, old infastructure—and of course the organic leftovers?
---
Noteworthy to say this makes up perhaps half of cyberpunk's foundations—one should not ever define cyberpunk solely with this idea.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good point - the graph being US only means it misses offshoring manufacturing jobs to places like China. We can't assume that the loss of manufacturing jobs was solely caused by automation
Why call it 'loss', if it was outsourced? UnAmericans are also human.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think this is purely focused on the supply side and neglecting demand and its role in the economy. The world economy today isn't driven by lack of supply (for the vast majority categories of products), rather it is by lack of demand. Whoever owns the demand owns the power in this dynamic. One can have all the factories in the world when consumer stop buying it's in for a rough time, like China is finding out.
Demand can be easily manufactured, it seems. Just look at all the bullshit people buy, from fidget spinners to timeshares to ready-made chocolate cake.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1. Some workers lose their jobs to automation. > 2. The remaining ones have a weaker negotiation power, as their jobs are on the way out anyway. So companies have even more incentive to abuse them. I wonder what the eventual end game is, when you let everything play out to its logical conclusion. Eventually, business owners will no longer need people at all. They'll own a magical fully-automated factory that mainta…
That's the argument for universal basic income in a nutshell. I'm not so convinced, I think this comes from the limited mental model of thinking of the economy as a system for making widgets. Rather, the economy is what happens when a society organizes its member's aggregated needs and desires. Being a valued member of a community is a rather basic human need. As such, the economy will find novel ways to meet that ag…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1. Some workers lose their jobs to automation. > 2. The remaining ones have a weaker negotiation power, as their jobs are on the way out anyway. So companies have even more incentive to abuse them. I wonder what the eventual end game is, when you let everything play out to its logical conclusion. Eventually, business owners will no longer need people at all. They'll own a magical fully-automated factory that mainta…
The end game is that average human becomes a pet. Horses weren't needed and they became pets; same for average human. This can only happen perfectly if the manufacturers eventually start to come after those who are self-reliant, which I believe is in line with the psychology of humans. Funny thing is this is ALSO analogous to what we have done certain animals.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The end game is that average human becomes a pet. Horses weren't needed and they became pets; same for average human. This can only happen perfectly if the manufacturers eventually start to come after those who are self-reliant, which I believe is in line with the psychology of humans. Funny thing is this is ALSO analogous to what we have done certain animals.
You’re thinking of slavery with extra steps.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1. Some workers lose their jobs to automation. > 2. The remaining ones have a weaker negotiation power, as their jobs are on the way out anyway. So companies have even more incentive to abuse them. I wonder what the eventual end game is, when you let everything play out to its logical conclusion. Eventually, business owners will no longer need people at all. They'll own a magical fully-automated factory that mainta…
The end game is that average human becomes a pet. Horses weren't needed and they became pets; same for average human. This can only happen perfectly if the manufacturers eventually start to come after those who are self-reliant, which I believe is in line with the psychology of humans. Funny thing is this is ALSO analogous to what we have done certain animals.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good point - the graph being US only means it misses offshoring manufacturing jobs to places like China. We can't assume that the loss of manufacturing jobs was solely caused by automation
Why call it 'loss', if it was outsourced? UnAmericans are also human.