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Robots Work, Human Beings Perform
"Robots work, human beings perform" was an idea proposed by the American psychologist and writer Tim Leary. He meant that it was an insult for any human being to be forced to do a job that can be done better by a machine.
Looking at the trend of technological unemployment and the suffering as a result of that, it seems that we are more than ready to push forward a technological revolution on a global scale that will improve the lives of mankind.
Aspiring towards this new paradigm, many futurists and social activists such as Jacque Fresco, the founder of The Venus Project have proposed a global redesign of our economic, social and cultural systems to a holistic, collaborative and sustainable system that meet the needs of all people and not just a selected few.
Imagine a world where all repetitious, monotonous, boring and dangerous jobs and labor, that wastes human talent, creativity and ingenuity, were fully and deliberately automated by machines, so that human beings could do what they really want to do and focus on whats really important to our happiness and our very survival.
The question remains. Are we ready for a new paradigm, a technological revolution that will improve our lives many times over, meet the needs of mankind that will truly liberate us from the shackles of our current outdated socioeconomic system?
Miro Dyer
Computers do have feedback circuits, but not at the hardware data level. We program them in at the software level - sometimes. As in other areas of mathematics, we have discrete (integral) types and analog (continuous) types. a discrete type of feedback is the IF-THEN loop. The IF condition is a switch- it uses fresh 'outside' (its own level) information to select which 'inside' procedural path to take. Therefore, using feedback produces computing units that are self-regulating, but also self-indeterminate. They rely on information in other units to achieve completion.
However, the basic criticism of the 'von Neumann bottleneck' remains- every bit of data must pass through a narrow feedforward funnel; very, very, very fast. To use feedback to regulate and correct these data, eg at the software level, involves introducing indeterminacy, and slows the whole machine down. Turns and roundabouts. To make an intelligent computer means mastering these two systems -feedforward vs feedback.
Tomasz Kubel
What is more important I cannot understand why people want to stop working? I cannot imagine living in a word where you do not have to work. Boredom is first thing that comes up my mind and out of boredom people do nasty things.
Look at the current camps for 'troubled' youth. They can actually get to terms with them self's by work. It gives purpose.
Mats Kaarbö 10+
When I say 'robots work, human beings perform' I mean people doing _meaningful_ jobs that improve themselves and the community around them. Jobs and labor that can easily be automated such as the production and distribution of goods and services, which is currently 70% of all jobs and labor out there, should be automated, so that people are freed up to do what they _really_ want and should be doing - curing cancer, eliminating illness, space exploration and becoming problem solvers to their environment.
David Hamilton 50+
Mats Kaarbö 10+
David Hamilton 50+
70% of America is now employed in the customer service industry... That industry used to be referred to as the servant class. This is a very serious issue, phrased in a less than serious manner. I am talking about the hidden pathway which has emerged, under the polite rhetoric of how lucky we would all be if we didn't "have" to have jobs.
Mats Kaarbö 10+
But I am talking about a society based on access over ownership. I do not subscribe to the idea that a financial elite should be the one that own the automation of all jobs and labor thus turning people into miserable slaves for the elite. That wouldn't work.
David Hamilton 50+
I do know, that under the current system there is much philosophy, being worked on, based on the concept that soon people will no longer need to labor... At the same time, labor standards, are plummeting, and respect for human labor has almost ceased to exist. I see this as related, and a negative trend.
Mats Kaarbö 10+
In order to test a global design, that calls for access over ownership, it has to be implemented globally, not locally. Locally or nationally will never work because the already established system, the monetary system, will not allow it to work. The educational groundwork of such a system has to be established first of all and then it's up to the people to decide whether or not we want such a system implemented.
"Everyone who has ever tried has failed, we need a pioneer, or it simply doesn't work... I'm not sure which."
Are you familiar with Jacque Fresco's work? He's been working on his designs for over 75 years and has come up with technical drawings of how we can manage the Earth in a sustainable and holistic way where the primary function would be to maximize the quality of life rather than profits. http://www.thevenusproject.com/en/the-venus-project/aims-a-proposals
"I do know, that under the current system there is much philosophy, being worked on, based on the concept that soon people will no longer need to labor... At the same time, labor standards, are plummeting, and respect for human labor has almost ceased to exist. I see this as related, and a negative trend."
I agree, I don't want to see people suffer in the current system due to automation, and that is why we need to aspire towards an access based system that goes beyond money, private property and social stratification. Our current system will continue to instal automation due to the logic of the monetary system. Forget about ethics and humanity, these concepts doesn't exist in the monetary system.
Gail . 50+
Mats Kaarbö 10+
Gail . 50+
Mats Kaarbö 10+
Gail . 50+
Mats Kaarbö 10+
Fran Ontanaya 100+
What we would need is governments that approached the supply of more "zero price" goods the way we approach urban sanitation. We don't build and maintain sewage as if it was an economic industry itself, but because it enables economic activity. We should be moving more stuff from the goods category into the infrastructure category, including food, shelter, access to information and basic professional certification.
Mats Kaarbö 10+
I fear that too. But a military dictatorship, as a result of a collapse, can only sustain for that long. People will eventually invade and demand a fairer distribution of wealth.
"Does it matter if we have the factories and the materials to produce everything for cheap, if the owners had no reason to turn them on? And taking them over by force would easily lead to material destruction, which again would cause scarcity."
This is an educational issue. When people see the benefit of access over ownership, the society will hopefully move towards that in a peaceful way. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, but it's something that we should at least strive for.