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    Posted by Maphesdus 10 years, 3 months ago
    I actually don't think the concerns expressed by this article are completely unfounded. What if we eventually reach a point where all manual labor is preformed by robots, and human labor is unnecessary? Sure, you could argue that people will just find new jobs if their old ones are automated, but in general that's only going to be a legitimately viable option for young people at the start of their careers, or middle-aged people who still have time to learn a new trade. Older generations, for the most part, likely won't be able to retrain and learn a totally new skillset.
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    • Posted by 10 years, 3 months ago
      look up a short story called "The Midas Plague". Because of automation and robots, people actually have to "work" at consuming. The "richest" people are those who don't have to live in mansions, drive obnoxious cars, order elaborate meals, etc. Everyone has their own personal robots, as well.

      One day a guy who works in a robot factory gets drunk, and reprograms his robots to do his consuming for him. They think they've whipped the problem of supply exceeding demand, when the guy, in horror, points out that having robots do the consuming wastes the robots... he'd programmed his robots to *enjoy* consuming, to *enjoy* having new things. It's an interesting story.
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    • Posted by Zach055 10 years, 3 months ago
      Its always ironic to see people argue against automation while using a computer, the ultimate labor saving device. I love automation, I hope that one day soon all labor will be performed by computers and we will have a post-scarcity economy. Work will soon go the way of the dinosaur, the same goes for money and starvation. Once we get food replicators the world will be fed and there will be no poverty, no war, and no classes. People will finally be able to do what they want rather than being a wage slave.
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