[trelltron]

What truly interests me is the idea that, potentially within our lifetimes, we will be forced to admit that there is no longer enough gainful work for all humans to have traditional jobs.

Self-driving cars have the potential to remove ALL transportation-related jobs from the job-pool. And there are many other fields which could probably be entirely operated by machines when the technology is sufficiently advanced.

Historically the labor saved by technology has been moved to other fields, but I have my doubts that this is sustainable.

[stonemetal]

> And there are many other fields which could probably be entirely operated by machines when the technology is sufficiently advanced.

As far as I can tell the technology is sufficiently advanced, just not sufficiently applied. Considering all the tech. involved in autonomous driving there are plenty of jobs that could be automated away with it not just ones involving vehicle use.

[Tenhundfeld]

This is getting pretty far off topic, but since it's one of my obsessions too, I have to reply. :)

I agree we'll inevitably get to the point where the vast majority of jobs are done cheaper/better by technology (software, robots, etc.). And let's just disregard Artificial Super Intelligence for the moment, which may make this projection moot. So, how does society work when there are legitimately, structurally no jobs for, let's say, 60% of the worldwide adult population?

I think the answer largely depends on how quickly our abundance rises, and a big part of that is energy. I expect/hope we'll one day discover/invent a source of energy that is nearly-free, nearly-infinite, and nearly-zero-maintenance. Now imagine this magic energy cube is relatively cheap to produce and small enough to be transported in the back of a pickup truck, my simple test for its ubiquity.

At that point (free ubiquitous energy + ubiquitous automation), we'll eventually be able to feed, clothe, and house everyone for essentially free – at least at a comfortable albeit minimalistic level. So people don't have to work to survive. Many people would choose to work for the satisfaction it provides and of course the prestige and access to luxury goods. But many people might not want to work – at least not traditional jobs. Assuming virtual reality continues to improve, people might spend their days "working" in World of Warcraft (or its future equivalent) or just enjoying the expanding plethora of entertainment options. Basically, imagine everyone has access to a replicator and lives in a holodeck, to use Star Trek vernacular. Working becomes optional.

I don't know. But I think the situation fundamentally changes when we have the abundance to easily support people who can't find a job or just don't want to work. The big question in my mind is whether we can start moving up the abundance curve before the impending jobs crisis. Throughout history, large numbers of unemployed adults, especially young men, has led to mass upheaval. But if we have sufficient abundance and entertainment, we might break that cycle.

[hellbanner]

All well and fine, but with this increase in technology.. when everyone is well clothed and well fed -- will people strive to cause suffering in order to "have more" or make others "have less"? Eg. sabotaging your replicator because you didn't support my World of Warcraft political decision

[Kristine1975]

>I expect/hope we'll one day discover/invent a source of energy that is nearly-free, nearly-infinite, and nearly-zero-maintenance.

The sun? :-)

[paulmd]

Twenty billion years isn't forever. In fact, I think there's a story about that. ;)

http://multivax.com/last_question.html

[wlievens]

Fits in a truck? Check!

[ArkyBeagle]

We've been here before. See "The Physiocrats" for this related to agriculture.

If my species is dependent on suffering for its derivation of "value" then it deserves whatever suffering it gets from that.