Re: Economy, Ego & Extropians

Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Thu, 22 May 1997 08:44:07 +0200 (MET DST)


On Wed, 21 May 1997, Dan Hook wrote:

> > Thanks for your feedback. From an extropian p.o.v, I agree that
> > robotics has beneficial ramifications to a broad spectrum of our
> > society, provided our current work ethic evolves along with the
> > technology. Ask any blue collar worker whose livelihood has been
> > usurped by technology, they'd likely have a different (albeit
> > knee-jerk) view.

I am sometimes surprised to the tendency of some extro list subscribers to
apply concepts from the boolean domain to the real world, a complex,
shifting place. E.g. the collar color classification is completely
artificial, as new-generation devices will make their way, both into
office and production line automation.

> Yes, I have had a few laughs over that one. I just tell people, that is
> those who will be taking white collar jobs, that I intend to make people's
> lives better by kicking them out of work. On a side note, when people say
> we cannot automate anymore they are saying that society's mental capacity
> is stretched to its fullest. How pessimistic.
> [...]

The question is how to organize semiubiquitous welfare, which we are
obviously going to need, into something incapacitating, instead of
debilitating.

ciao,
'gene