Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

For all the mystery, curiosity & appeal of androids, human-appearing robots that could do most work that people do now, the secondary thought that soon pops into most people's minds is: if robots are doing all the work, what are people going to do? The sheer amount of time consumed worrying about such flights-of-fantasy is amazing in its own right, and the fact that the simple answer is not widely known means that either no one is listening, or no one has thought it through. Here, let me:

In a robot future, where most overtly productive tasks like picking strawberries, driving cars & even designing iPhones, is done by machines, the “jobs” that people do will concentrate into the one thing people are eager to pay for: additional status. Owning & doing things that are fashionable will always be part of consumption, and participating in social trends & seeking public approval will never be something done by robots, because people don't want the accolades of things, they want the applause of other people. Plus, you are not going to drink a beer with an android: there will always be a person telling you a funny story of their day's happenings. If the only job people had was following around a robot dabbing oil into its joints, then used the money they earned to buy the cheap goods produced by the robots, with anything left over going to pay their yoga dues & support Greenpeace, there's work & fulfillment enough for everybody, no matter how many robots change the baby's diaper.