Hi I hope everyone is doing well. I am taking a break from reading UNSCRIPTED for a second time and reflecting on my past and future. I've had some stuff on my mind and wanted to see what people in this community may think or feel about it. It doesn't exactly pertain to the TUNEF or UNSCRIPTED mindset so that's why I'm posting it in off-topic.
Something I enjoy spending time reading about is technology in general. I've read books by Ray Kurzweil, a famous inventor and futurist. I browse a few subreddits like Futurology, Singularity, and other such forums.
I am trying to change my mindset from a consumer to a producer like MJ outlines in his books and I will get there eventually though I struggle to think of how I can create value, especially when it seems like that will become more and more difficult as technology improves, and thus automation increases.
Something that I see quite often is people posting, or asking questions about an uncertain future, especially during the pandemic situation.
Some positive outcomes of the pandemic have been a larger push (in general, from many parties) towards a greener / more renewable energy future. This is excellent!
More people are able to work from home from changing office dynamics, and companies realizing "Hey, we don't actually need people to congregate in this physical office to perform their roles effectively!" This could lead to companies saving money on unnecessary building leases, thus freeing up that space for other, potentially more important uses.
Something else that comes up in the technology discussion world is increased automation and what that means for people. It's no secret that automation is "coming for" a lot, if not most of people's jobs. A big example is the work being done in autonomous vehicles, driven largely by the work done by Tesla. When automated vehicles become mainstream, and I believe they will, it will make millions of people's jobs obsolete.
Something else I see happening from technology being created is obsolescence of many things. For example, Elon Musk started a company a while back called Neuralink. He has gone on record in interviews about the potential impacts of this technology. For anyone unfamiliar with Neuralink, it is a BCI (brain computer interface) chip that will connect directly to the brain via filaments (extremely tiny wires) implanted directly into the brain via a highly precise, automated robot surgeon. This chip can impact many different aspects of the brain, depending where it is implanted (or perhaps, how many you have implanted). Elon has stated that he believes this technology could make possible essentially telepathic communication between humans in 5-10 years. (Obviously, only between people who have the device implanted). His statement was interesting in the sense that he underlines the fact that language is a hurdle of communication itself. How often do you have a thought or emotion that you are unable to properly convey due to lack of language understanding? The device could effectively transmit your actual thoughts or emotions for direct interpretation, instead of being needed to be translated into a language first.
I've seen all kinds of interviews, TED talks, etc from experts in the field of AI, neuroscience, etc. I have been interested in this stuff since my teenage years. It appears clear we are heading towards a Matrix like scenario, where anyone could obtain whatever knowledge they desire or need at the time. This would render so many things and professions obsolete. Why would you need someone to do anything for you if you could just download the knowledge for whatever it is you're trying to do? Essentially, our brains are going to get directly connected to the internet, and that brings a lot of societal issues.
Back to automation and discussions I see surrounding this quite often. As more and more humans are rendered obsolete because a computer, robot, or AI has taken their job, more and more humans will become unemployed, or worse, unemployable. Further technological improvement and automation will exacerbate this problem.
People turn to ideas like UBI (Universal Basic Income) to cover the basic needs of people so everyone isn't just living in poverty. Not only do I believe this is not plausible solution (for several reasons) but it's kind of ignoring the basic underlying paradox behind automation in relation to how society currently operations (under capitalism and consumption). One of the main reasons I don't believe a UBI is a solution is because it's impossibly expensive tofund. Say a UBI of $2000 per month for every adult in America is proposed. Well, there are approximately 200,000,000 adults in America (more, actually). It would require $400 BN per month to fund that, or $4.8 TN per year. Where do people believe this money is going to come from? Previous presidential candidate Andrew Yang says the majority of the funds would come from the removal of the old welfare system as well as all the monetary overhead associated with that. (Humans figuring out whether someone qualifies for welfare. Following up to see if they are searching for a job, etc etc etc). OK, that's part of the funding, but what else?? People often say well, taxation of the wealthy and the corporations, or some kind of "wealth tax." Excuse me, what? Doesn't that seem counter-intuitive? (and also impossible from a tax point of view. This much money could not be extracted in the form of taxes) I feel like it would stifle innovation. I am Canadian, and in Canada, the yearly income taxes everyone pays goes towards the federal government's debt (deficit), not to pay for a welfare system (or UBI).
The way I see it, as the world becomes more and more automated companies/corporations will enjoy growing revenues from massive wage cost savings. But this can only improve up to a certain point. If all of humankind who don't own a company benefiting from these technological improvements are increasingly becoming devalued, unemployed, unemployable, (meaning they will have decreased money for spending) WHO is going to consume the goods and/or services these corporations are producing? It's a catch 22. A double edges sword. How can capitalism or consumerism in its current form exist in a world of increasing (or even absolute) automation?? I don't believe it can.
From all the stuff I read and watch on technology, it seems clear that eventually humanity is going to enter a phase of post-scarcity. Abundance. Wealth for all because of the wonders of technology. Capitalism as we know it today will not exist, or need to exist. People might not even exist in the real world as they do today. We could end up in a Matrix like future except everyone knows they're in a virtual world and prefer it that way. I think this is a very long way off, but still a possibility....Who knows....
But it looks really scary from an average joe point of view. People will increasingly become devalued, or even completely devoid of value. This will create a lot of turmoil...If the world really is moving toward an abundance for all end-game, the time between now and then is going to be extremely scary.
Thoughts?
Something I enjoy spending time reading about is technology in general. I've read books by Ray Kurzweil, a famous inventor and futurist. I browse a few subreddits like Futurology, Singularity, and other such forums.
I am trying to change my mindset from a consumer to a producer like MJ outlines in his books and I will get there eventually though I struggle to think of how I can create value, especially when it seems like that will become more and more difficult as technology improves, and thus automation increases.
Something that I see quite often is people posting, or asking questions about an uncertain future, especially during the pandemic situation.
Some positive outcomes of the pandemic have been a larger push (in general, from many parties) towards a greener / more renewable energy future. This is excellent!
More people are able to work from home from changing office dynamics, and companies realizing "Hey, we don't actually need people to congregate in this physical office to perform their roles effectively!" This could lead to companies saving money on unnecessary building leases, thus freeing up that space for other, potentially more important uses.
Something else that comes up in the technology discussion world is increased automation and what that means for people. It's no secret that automation is "coming for" a lot, if not most of people's jobs. A big example is the work being done in autonomous vehicles, driven largely by the work done by Tesla. When automated vehicles become mainstream, and I believe they will, it will make millions of people's jobs obsolete.
Something else I see happening from technology being created is obsolescence of many things. For example, Elon Musk started a company a while back called Neuralink. He has gone on record in interviews about the potential impacts of this technology. For anyone unfamiliar with Neuralink, it is a BCI (brain computer interface) chip that will connect directly to the brain via filaments (extremely tiny wires) implanted directly into the brain via a highly precise, automated robot surgeon. This chip can impact many different aspects of the brain, depending where it is implanted (or perhaps, how many you have implanted). Elon has stated that he believes this technology could make possible essentially telepathic communication between humans in 5-10 years. (Obviously, only between people who have the device implanted). His statement was interesting in the sense that he underlines the fact that language is a hurdle of communication itself. How often do you have a thought or emotion that you are unable to properly convey due to lack of language understanding? The device could effectively transmit your actual thoughts or emotions for direct interpretation, instead of being needed to be translated into a language first.
I've seen all kinds of interviews, TED talks, etc from experts in the field of AI, neuroscience, etc. I have been interested in this stuff since my teenage years. It appears clear we are heading towards a Matrix like scenario, where anyone could obtain whatever knowledge they desire or need at the time. This would render so many things and professions obsolete. Why would you need someone to do anything for you if you could just download the knowledge for whatever it is you're trying to do? Essentially, our brains are going to get directly connected to the internet, and that brings a lot of societal issues.
Back to automation and discussions I see surrounding this quite often. As more and more humans are rendered obsolete because a computer, robot, or AI has taken their job, more and more humans will become unemployed, or worse, unemployable. Further technological improvement and automation will exacerbate this problem.
People turn to ideas like UBI (Universal Basic Income) to cover the basic needs of people so everyone isn't just living in poverty. Not only do I believe this is not plausible solution (for several reasons) but it's kind of ignoring the basic underlying paradox behind automation in relation to how society currently operations (under capitalism and consumption). One of the main reasons I don't believe a UBI is a solution is because it's impossibly expensive tofund. Say a UBI of $2000 per month for every adult in America is proposed. Well, there are approximately 200,000,000 adults in America (more, actually). It would require $400 BN per month to fund that, or $4.8 TN per year. Where do people believe this money is going to come from? Previous presidential candidate Andrew Yang says the majority of the funds would come from the removal of the old welfare system as well as all the monetary overhead associated with that. (Humans figuring out whether someone qualifies for welfare. Following up to see if they are searching for a job, etc etc etc). OK, that's part of the funding, but what else?? People often say well, taxation of the wealthy and the corporations, or some kind of "wealth tax." Excuse me, what? Doesn't that seem counter-intuitive? (and also impossible from a tax point of view. This much money could not be extracted in the form of taxes) I feel like it would stifle innovation. I am Canadian, and in Canada, the yearly income taxes everyone pays goes towards the federal government's debt (deficit), not to pay for a welfare system (or UBI).
The way I see it, as the world becomes more and more automated companies/corporations will enjoy growing revenues from massive wage cost savings. But this can only improve up to a certain point. If all of humankind who don't own a company benefiting from these technological improvements are increasingly becoming devalued, unemployed, unemployable, (meaning they will have decreased money for spending) WHO is going to consume the goods and/or services these corporations are producing? It's a catch 22. A double edges sword. How can capitalism or consumerism in its current form exist in a world of increasing (or even absolute) automation?? I don't believe it can.
From all the stuff I read and watch on technology, it seems clear that eventually humanity is going to enter a phase of post-scarcity. Abundance. Wealth for all because of the wonders of technology. Capitalism as we know it today will not exist, or need to exist. People might not even exist in the real world as they do today. We could end up in a Matrix like future except everyone knows they're in a virtual world and prefer it that way. I think this is a very long way off, but still a possibility....Who knows....
But it looks really scary from an average joe point of view. People will increasingly become devalued, or even completely devoid of value. This will create a lot of turmoil...If the world really is moving toward an abundance for all end-game, the time between now and then is going to be extremely scary.
Thoughts?
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