
Will robots steal your job? - taylorbuley
http://www.slate.com/id/2304442
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washedup
This seems like a very negative and selfish way to think about it. First of
all, there is no such thing as "your" job. You have a job because you are
efficient and make a positive effect for your company. If you are not,
eventually you will be fired (assuming you don't work for yourself). If there
is someone that can do your job better, there is a good chance he/she/it can
replace you. Ultimately the question should be this: Does having a robot fill
this position effectively make society better as a whole for humans? I think
part of the reason the idea of robots replacing humans appears so negative is
that it compromises our self-worth. However, if I can work less and focus on
hobbies and personal projects as a result of a lighter work load, I am all for
it. The next question is does this eventually lead to discussions of robo-
slavery?

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prodigal_erik
Food and shelter are more than hobbies, and capitalism doesn't make those
available to me unless my labor is in demand. Automation is continually
raising the bar on how strong, agile, or smart you must be in order to find a
niche. We need to redesign the economy to be more humane towards the growing
number who can't, before they revolt (since we've ignored all the more noble
reasons to do so).

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washedup
I agree with you, but my idea is that automation makes goods more consistent
and readily available, lowering prices. If average human wages are dropping,
along with prices of goods/services because of automation, then we are just as
well off. If the price of consumption falls faster than human wages, we are
better off (from a consumer prospective)

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prodigal_erik
I'm all for automation reducing society's opportunity costs for making stuff.
But if the market wage for the median person's labor drops to zero, they will
be much worse off, and using wages to ration out the newly abundant goods (as
well as living space) isn't going to work.
<http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm> weighs pretty heavily in my thinking as
a plausible future, and we're just starting to see the first pebbles of the
avalanche as grocery stores replace clerks with vending machines. "Grocery
clerk" is a lousy use of human lifetime, but our treatment of the unemployable
is currently even worse than that.

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sp332
I should buy a robot, and then get it hired in my place. Then the robot can
make me a bunch of money!

