Re:The Next Industrial Revolution Could Put Millions Out of ...
by coldtea on Friday September 30, 2016 @02:40PM
(#12614368)
>You vastly underestimate the technology differences between 500 b.c. and 1600ad. The printing press for example. Windmills/waterwheels for another. Did the automation of grain mills result in mass unemployability?
Not many worked in grain mills in the first place for that to be much of an issue. Something like the fishing sector becoming deprecated in the 16th century B.C. would more faithfully describe the kind of impact modern automation technologies can have.
Besides there were still tons of work opportunities in ALL kinds of manual and menial labor fields as the standards of living were very low and urbanization was just starting.
>* We always seem to find new things to work on.*
From a list of limited options -- not from some magic infinite bag of sectors.
>Precisely the opposite. Technology eliminating work has happened several times in the past. Just never with disaster.
You conflate technology eliminating SOME work, with technology that can replace all kinds of jobs -- including lots of mental labor with AI.
You also conflate technologies that were small multipliers of productivity, with technologies that allow 1 person to do the work of hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
Not many worked in grain mills in the first place for that to be much of an issue. Something like the fishing sector becoming deprecated in the 16th century B.C. would more faithfully describe the kind of impact modern automation technologies can have.
Besides there were still tons of work opportunities in ALL kinds of manual and menial labor fields as the standards of living were very low and urbanization was just starting.
>* We always seem to find new things to work on.*
From a list of limited options -- not from some magic infinite bag of sectors.
>Precisely the opposite. Technology eliminating work has happened several times in the past. Just never with disaster.
You conflate technology eliminating SOME work, with technology that can replace all kinds of jobs -- including lots of mental labor with AI.
You also conflate technologies that were small multipliers of productivity, with technologies that allow 1 person to do the work of hundreds of thousands, or even millions.