Let's Riff on the next Tech/Social Revolution

[Ph64]

No one ever explains who is buying all the products being made by automated workers and shipped by self driving vehicles.
I mean . . . not to completely dismantle the trendiest doom-day scenario of the last five years, but when we're all automated out of jobs who, exactly, is buying shit?

The T800 terminator coming after us needs clothes.

By the time the T1000 with mimetic polyalloy comes around there will be more than enough "pre-owned" clothing around for the survivors.

And to ND's post, I like my flip phone and have no desire to "keep up with technology". After 30 years in IT, and periodically having to be on-call, I've gotten rid of my TV and quite honestly have no desire to have the internet with me 24/7, or have anyone feel I'm "always there" at the other end of a text message, etc. (And, I might add, no desire for voice-activated gizmos in my house, internet accessible garage door openers, thermostats, toasters, washing machines, etc - just more complexity for, IMHO, no good fucking reason).

[jbird4049]

There are parts of this country that still does not have effective broadband.

Driving on a dirt road, or in the desert, or Manhattan are all different, and your life does depend on that.

Parts of our infrastructure including bridges, roads, and the electrical grid are this close to collapse.

So let's build fancy "self" driving cars? Isn't that putting the horse before the cart?

[jbird4049]

No one ever explains who is buying all the products being made by automated workers and shipped by self driving vehicles.
I mean . . . not to completely dismantle the trendiest doom-day scenario of the last five years, but when we're all automated out of jobs who, exactly, is buying shit?

The T800 terminator coming after us needs clothes.

By the time the T1000 with mimetic polyalloy comes around there will be more than enough "pre-owned" clothing around for the survivors.

And to ND's post, I like my flip phone and have no desire to "keep up with technology". After 30 years in IT, and periodically having to be on-call, I've gotten rid of my TV and quite honestly have no desire to have the internet with me 24/7, or have anyone feel I'm "always there" at the other end of a text message, etc. (And, I might add, no desire for voice-activated gizmos in my house, internet accessible garage door openers, thermostats, toasters, washing machines, etc - just more complexity for, IMHO, no good fucking reason).

You Luddite.

[TheReal_ND]

No one ever explains who is buying all the products being made by automated workers and shipped by self driving vehicles.
I mean . . . not to completely dismantle the trendiest doom-day scenario of the last five years, but when we're all automated out of jobs who, exactly, is buying shit?

The T800 terminator coming after us needs clothes.

By the time the T1000 with mimetic polyalloy comes around there will be more than enough "pre-owned" clothing around for the survivors.

And to ND's post, I like my flip phone and have no desire to "keep up with technology". After 30 years in IT, and periodically having to be on-call, I've gotten rid of my TV and quite honestly have no desire to have the internet with me 24/7, or have anyone feel I'm "always there" at the other end of a text message, etc. (And, I might add, no desire for voice-activated gizmos in my house, internet accessible garage door openers, thermostats, toasters, washing machines, etc - just more complexity for, IMHO, no good fucking reason).

That was a copy paste from a member of another forum I should have made that clear. I certainly don't work behind a desk heh. Idk how true it is so grain of salt.

[JohnDonne]

Universal income is among the worst ideas I've ever heard.
And having frequented this forum and the last, I've heard some monumentally bad ideas.

/shrug

What are you afraid of, exactly?

I've heard mincome attacked only from the work ethic morality angle. If that's your beef, I wonder if it ever occurred to you that certain values change as civilization and technology progress? The whole idea of a Basic Income is to give hypothetical people who may become economically redundant a basic starting point of living. Most people work not just to survive but to improve their situations, so it's hard to see a basic income undermining that motivation.

If your beef is that people would be dependent on the government I would agree that they would be more dependent than they are today, but at the same time the freedom of time granted would allow people to pursue alternative paths of independence, for example they could learn to grow their own food. The applications of having free time and resources are literally endless and limited only by the imagination.

That some people would choose to nibble their lotus leaves in a virtual reality fog is not an argument against mincome either, in my view. It is in fact a feature of freedom that one may choose to squander it.

[Penner]

Universal income is among the worst ideas I've ever heard.
And having frequented this forum and the last, I've heard some monumentally bad ideas.

/shrug

Might be but personally, I don't think that it's coming anytime soon. Even when we have the massive amount of automation coming to destroy every single person's job I still doubt that America will implement. Maybe individual states but there are probably going to be requirements like, you can only get this amount and you have to be unemployed in the state for X amount of time, etc...

[JohnDonne]

I'm sure the truckers build a lotta character, driving in a straight line for fourteen hours, the lessons about life those truckers glean will surely be missed by humanity.

[Hwen Hoshino]

I had an interesting experience today that i'd like to share regarding the direction the auto industry with further implications.

I currently desk jockey in a position that grants me the ability to meet with executives of the banking industry. Today I had a jarring meeting that I think you would like to hear. It was an average business luncheon with about 15 people varying from low level desk jockeys to corner office suits, discussing different lines of the business: loans, insurance, real estate, normal bullshit. One of the executives decided to end the lunch on an interesting topic regarding the future of our auto industry.

He began by mentioning one of the present employees 4 month old child. "in 20 years she may not even have a license to drive." A rather off-putting comment but everyone let him continue. "does anyone carry around a flip phone?" no one raised their hand. He picked up his smart phone and began. "People nowadays really want to keep up with the newest technology, It seems more difficult each year to buy the next best thing. Now they offer the ability to pay in monthly and receive a new model when available so you always have your hands on the best there is." the room stayed silent, waiting for this speech to form into something relevant. He continues, " it seems more and more you see this type of service take form, with ride sharing app like uber, and apartments and condos providing ride share vouchers in place of parking spots. Now with cars themselves you see they're becoming self driving, and self driving cars don't work well when there are people driving themselves on the same road. This is something car makers from Tesla have spoken recently about. If you have a world of self driving cars and one gets in an accident who's at fault? well the car maker. So an insurance company like us would sue them for coverage because their computer failed to provide the expected safety. So car manufacturers decide they provide the insurance."

At this point the room is almost dead silent. The only thing you can hear is hands slowly tying noose's under the table as auto employees regret choosing a seemingly doomed industry. He continues "Cadillac is rolling out a pilot in NYC where you pay a flat monthly fee of $1,500 to drive around the latest models. Where insurance and maintenance are included. In Japan they're going to implement a full self driving car industry. The new charger stadium will be built with no parking lots. Large drop off zones for ride sharing will be available for fans to see the games. This leads to some questions on how the insurance business will move forward." At this point the noose is tightening on the poor guys. While all I can think about is that fucking Jon Stewart interview and wondered why this executive was blackpilling these people.

At this point he turned back the attention to the other parts of the industry that were successful and how the company is preparing and capable to offset that forseeable future with the other lines of business. giving the room some whitepills that enough people laid down their nooses. So while there was a "relief" that this isn't a sinking ship. I could sum up the thoughts of the people in the room as below. A rather lukewarm ending to a rollercoaster ride...

Blackpilling? What the fuck is that?

[TheReal_ND]

It's what happens when you turn on BBC

[Montegriffo]

It's what happens when you turn on BBC

So it means being informed of the facts then?