Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week

Re:Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week by alexc05 on Thursday March 02, 2017 @10:02AM (#13774434)

So a few years ago I read Tim Ferriss' "the four hour work week" - and while I will not go on a screed about the part that I find ridiculous, I do think the chapter (and recurring thread) about "what do you do with when you work 4 hours a week" is entirely relevant here.

The summary / thesis of life-after-work is that we must "find a muse" - which is to say, since you no longer must work your entire life away, you may now re-allocate those same hours doing something that you love. Even something that you are wildly, obsessively, passionate about.

A small portion of the current policy research around AI & Automation is how do we deal with the emotional fallout among people who feel they've lost their purpose. How do we convince people that it is OK to "take a handout"?

There are really deep cultural implications to that idea. There are people who believe "there's no such thing as a free lunch" - consider the Georgia representative who very specifically floated the idea of making poor children sweep floors in schools in exchange for meals "in order to teach them the important life lesson that there is no such thing as a free lunch" http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/gop-rep-suggests-kids-... ... like that is someone who really believes in that as a principle as opposed to just a colloquialism.

What would it do to their self esteem if they were suddenly taking free money?

How many parents would be happy to spend an extra hour with their kids in the morning? A couple of extra hours at night? A few extra hours to learn guitar or beat that next level of super-mario?

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Re:Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week by Taylor_OD on Thursday March 02, 2017 @10:38AM (#13774775)

I've move from a company where I had to be there 9-5:30+ to a company with flex hours. Earlier in the week I leave around 3-4 somewhat regularly because on other days I have to be at work until 8:30+.

Even with a couple extra hours at home a week it's hard to find exactly what I should be doing. I tried to put together a schedule of taking some online classes I've watched to for a while, writing, spending 30-1 hour playing games I've been meaning to play, and generally calling / talking to friends and family more. However I still find myself in a loop of checking reddit, youtube, facebook, and hackernews over and over around 7PM.

I understand its a problem born from extreme privilege but if the future is filled with more free time it's a problem that many will run into.

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Re:Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week by cableshaft on Thursday March 02, 2017 @02:34PM (#13777418)

Here's a short list of things I would like to study or do if I only had the time, in no particular order:

Piano, saxophone, geology, astronomy, japanese, game development on old consoles, hiking, weight training, personal site redesign, writing novels, writing stories, designing board and card games, mobile app development, virtual reality development, drawing, composing music, game production and publishing, cooking, etc.

It should be noted that for all of these things listed there was at least a small period of my life where I spent a good chunk of time doing them.

Instead right now I seem to only have the time, energy, and motivation for board game design (and recording it in a diary), keeping my puppy active and happy (walks, fetch), playing some games, fixing a bug or adding a small feature or two in a mobile app once a week, and writing one short story for an anthology once a year.

And I only work 40 hours a week. When I worked 60+ I didn't have energy to do anything but eat dinner and sleep.

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Re:Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week by sotojuan on Thursday March 02, 2017 @11:55AM (#13775672)

If I had 5 extra hours in a workweek I'd probably do house chores like grocery shopping, maintenance, doctor appointments, cleaning, cooking for the week, etc. That way, my regular free time is actually free.

Coming home after 8 hours of work to 1-2 hours of chores isn't fun.

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Re:Start with universal basic income and a 15-hour work week by wcunning on Thursday March 02, 2017 @11:03AM (#13775068)

Personally, I filled that time around grad school and killing time finding my first job by taking vocational classes at my local community college. I learned both welding and machining in my evenings, and now that's the foundation of my hobbies.

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