Re: Death of Leisure? (was Re: Trans-extropian principles)

Robin Hanson (hanson@dosh.hum.caltech.edu)
Fri, 2 Aug 96 10:38:02 PDT


I wrote:
>Just because things will get competitive doesn't mean you can't have
>fun indefinitely if you choose. Just get rich enough before the
>transition, and resist the urge to spend it all or copy yourself.

Tim Freeman responded:
>If the pleasure-seeker is too slow in adopting advanced technology,
>then I suspect their property rights would be violated somehow.

I replied:
>Most of us don't protect our property rights by adopting advanced
>technology. We don't keep up on the lastest kinds of weapons to
>protect ourselves from predators. We hire other people to do that.

Tim responded:
>If your personal productivity lags far enough behind the productivity
>of the intruders, then the costs of self-defense might go up faster
>than you can afford.

If you've saved enough, and are rich enough, then your personal
productivity is irrelevant. If you are frugal, your wealth will grow
with the total wealth of the economy, which should be more than enough
to keep up with defense costs.

Robin Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/