[Synthetase]

Human wants are a bottomless pit. Even if we automate every single industry, people will still want something else. There is always an angle.

[enjo]

Hell you don't even need an angle, every few years you'll see the same angle come back around.

Look at imgur, which is really a better version of the original photobucket, tinypic, whatever came before that.

I have no doubt we'll see instagram #2 in a couple of years.

[rhizome]

The Red Queen Syndrome says that as problems are solved, further problems reveal themselves.

[AznHisoka]

So this explains why even though we've had so much technical innovation in past 40 years, work hours have not decreased dramatically? Humans are such assholes

[xal]

They haven't changed for the most productive people. They have certainly been reduced for unskilled labor.

[twelvechairs]

I think there are some major logical flaws in what you are saying.

1 - 'The most productive people' is a weak description of anything. Producing what? Money? If so, please just say 'the highest earners'. If not, please remember that some 'unskilled labourers' could be 'the most productive people' in their own fields (eg. construction). Some earn a lot of money too...

2 - Most 'unskilled labour' now happens in Asia. Work hours have probably increased rather than decreased as compared to 40 years ago (in the factories of the West, where at the time strong unionism led to better conditions).

[ImprovedSilence]

ha! This is the most brilliant and inspirational thing I have ever read on Hacker News. I'm printing your gem of a quote out and plastering it above my computer!

[eli_gottlieb]

But the returns of utility and money on satisfying those wants diminish.

[notJim]

Relevant xkcd: http://www.xkcd.com/1095/