
Is Software Eating the Useless Class? The Story of Marc Andreessen - TechWriterTom
https://hackernoon.com/software-is-eating-the-useless-class-c2b04461bb67
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veritas_veritad
The cant of this article is kind of grossing me out. I don't disagree with the
predictions of this, but I reject the notion of people as being "useless"
because they can't interface with technology. Such a position is a paperclip
maximizer
([https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer](https://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer))
of efficiency. There are other worthwhile things.

Are artists useless unless they can produce design? Are "idiot" friends who
make us laugh but are generally low-achieving "useless"?

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TechWriterTom
They are economically useless - not useless as people. In fact, that's kind of
the point. Here's a quote from Andreessen that highlights that potential:

“Imagine six, or 10 billion people doing nothing but arts and sciences,
culture and exploring and learning. What a world that would be.”

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jimrhods23
“Imagine six, or 10 billion people doing nothing but arts and sciences,
culture and exploring and learning. What a world that would be.”

This kind of reminds me of the people I've met that want to start a company,
but don't seem to realize that 99% of it is going to involve tasks that are
not fun or enjoyable.

For a successful society, we need people doing work that nobody else wants to
do, so we have can have successful artists and people that want to explore.

~~~
TechWriterTom
I think being a great scientist or artist revolves around doing repetitive
tasks that aren't not fun or enjoyable. I believe people want to do difficult
jobs, as long as they're meaningful.

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jimrhods23
True, but what about the jobs that aren't meaningful, but still need to be
done? and what about the people that aren't capable of being an artist or a
scientist?

~~~
TechWriterTom
Any job that matters is meaningful. But that still leaves many working a
bullshit job. That's no fun. As for people who aren't capable of becoming
artists or scientists, which I think would be a small % of people, well I hope
they have UBI and can live happily.

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aznpwnzor
why do people need "jobs"? Does a person playing xbox and smoking weed all day
not have the same value?

~~~
TechWriterTom
Compared to the people creating art, furthering science, and improving our
society?

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aznpwnzor
yes. why is an individual's value tied to what he contributes in a close to
post scarcity world?

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owlofwis3
If history has taught us anything, the problems that technology creates - it
solves. What's the worry?

~~~
hackerhit
there's no worry for anyone working in tech

