On Tue, 12 Sep 2000 23:44:42 -0700 Samantha Atkins
<samantha@objectent.com> writes:
As
> we
> get more powerful computers at lower cost with more AIish abilities
> more
> and more jobs will fall to them. We had best be thinking really
> hard
> right now about how we plan to have people have a decent life
> without a
> regular for pay job.
This sort of concern seems to have come up with every major advance in
technology. But historically there's always been a shift in the sort of
work roles available with no net loss of opportunity to work.
The greatest problem I foresee is educating the workforce quickly enough
to keep up with changes in work roles available. I'm troubled by the
inflexible way of thinking kids are being taught in USA schools. Don't
know about schools in other parts of the world.
Probably the most valuable education a kid could have today, given the
rapidly changing social environment, would be basic reading skills,
exposure to basic math concepts, practice at learning new skills, and
exposure to the basic techniques of finding novel methods of improving
imperfect situations.
> This technology is supposed to be about a more abundant life for
> human
> beings. When the technology takes over what the human beings had
> being
> doing to support themselves the human beings must still be
> supported.
The above statement seems to be based on the premise that most of the
paid jobs people currently do are directly related to the production of
the basic necessities. I don't have exact statistics, but I'm fairly
certain that most of the work people are doing today is NOT directly
related to fulfilling the basic needs of food and shelter (possibly
medical care should be classified as a basic need) . Much of the work is,
if you look at it objectively, "busy-work."
Apparently during the first half of the 20th century people believed that
labor-saving devices really WOULD result in more leisure time, and they
looked forward to a 30 hour (or fewer) work week and housework that could
be completed in a couple of hours per week. Instead, people have ended
up working longer hours at jobs; in the area of housework, standards of
"cleanliness" have changed such that a white shirt with one tiny spot of
dirt is considered dirty and must be washed; floors with a few specks of
dust must be cleaned, and so forth.
I would guess that one of the greatest challenges confronting people in
the coming few decades will be changing their attitudes towards the use
of time.
Barbara
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