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by diatone 1060 days ago
Worth pointing out, we live better lives not just from the technological breakthroughs, but also from the social movements that have brought us things like the 40-hour work week and keeping children from labour for a reasonable time. Which were direct responses to the Industrial Revolution.
2 comments
tmpz22 1060 days ago
And we're starting to see the repeal of Labor laws in the US - newly passed or pending laws allow companies to hire children without work permits and allow children to work longer hours under more dangerous conditions in places like construction sites, meat packing plants, and automobile factories.

[1]: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172544561/new-state-laws-are...

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MisterBastahrd 1060 days ago
There are states in the US who want to enjoy all the benefits of living in an advanced society but also want the social and political status quo of the 1910s.
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didibus 1060 days ago
This is an incredibly relevant point.

Take North Korea, they have access the the know how of all the same advancements and yet because of social conditions, it's population is not thriving.

This is true of many countries honestly. The impact of social justice, equality, and all that are huge. And can't be understated.

In fact, we can all easily imagine an Elite ruling the world at the helm of AI powered robots, leaving the rest of us to scrape the bottom.

Social breakthroughs are going to need to keep pace with technological advancements, otherwise those same advancement can also help to bring minority holding power even more stronghold on the rest.

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CBarkleyU 1060 days ago
>Social breakthroughs are going to need to keep pace with technological advancements, otherwise those same advancement can also help to bring minority holding power even more stronghold on the rest.

Which is why we should push for social breakthroughs instead of hindering technological advancements. Work for the sake of working is just occupational therapy, nothing more.

I'm extremely optimistic regarding all this AI kerfuffle. "In fact, we can all easily imagine an Elite ruling the world at the helm of AI powered robots", yeah, sure, we can. We can also easily imagine us sharpening the good old guillotine.

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