In this day and age, our focus on automating simple tasks is ever increasing, but how much will this focus actually produce, and will increased automation actually be counter-productive?
Basically, let me give you an example to better depict what I'm speaking on. Say, for instance, that in the far future every vehicle is controlled by an intelligent computer that coordinates with every other vehicle and the road in order to get you to your destination. This boasts numerous positives, such as there would be no more accidents, no more traffic, much faster travel times, less human stress, more accountability for being late, etc.. However, this draws the problem that without accidents and traffic, there's no need for insurance companies. There's far less need for mechanics and patrolling/detail police. This relinquishes a vast amount of jobs, and a vast amount of money spent from the market, which was not good.
So, my random thought from the cellar is, what if our technological progression is already, or will have to be, halted because of the necessary welfare of human society?
In other words, what if we hit a wall in our advancement that we don't pass; because if we did, we couldn't accommodate for everyone?
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Edited by Ogma: Destroyer of Worlds: 12/31/2015 6:53:39 PMThis will become a real problem in general. I think that things will adjust accordingly. The demand for certain jobs will decrease while others to develop and maintain said technology will increase. Might be a slow process though. Especially with population increase.
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The job market will evolve. A vast amount of students are placing their future in engineering, computer science, mechanics, ect, because many manual jobs in the future will be taken by robots designed by these students. Yes, unemployment will go up. But not as much as you may think. When the assembly line was invented, and cars became mainstream, many, many jobs became outdated. If you tell your parents you want to be a stagecoach driver today, they'll think you're crazy. Soon, the bus driver, the factory worker, the accountant, will all be jobs of the past. Replacing them will be engineers and mechanics. This is simply another major shift in the job market, it's not the first.
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You should do a Ted Talk
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One could argue that with the amount of machinery and tech used to make these advancements would require a league of engineers, mechanics, and possibly government officials/departments to regulate, maintenance, and update this machinery. At least making up for some of the jobs that we lose in the process; a process which would take a very long time to manifest itself entirely into what you are saying. Also, if something like that does occur, which it most likely will, I feel like it would just be another minute event leading up to either complete integration of biology and technology, or a "singularity" event where AI-controlled machinery gains some sort of self-awareness, a la skynet.
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Edited by R-E-D-C-E-L-L: 12/31/2015 6:29:14 AMIt's happened before. It's called the Internet. And we aren't adapting well at all. Casinos are going broke and closing because you can gamble online. Massive companies have gone bankrupt. America's oldest retailer Woolworth, which at one time was the largest retail chain in the nation is gone. Kmart is going down, Ames stores went down, Blockbuster Video's done, Sears and Macy's are suffering due to online retailers like Amazon and Ebay. Gamestop is hurting badly because of cloud technology and digital downloads. They'll be downsized to insignificance or completely done within 5 years. Fewer small businesses are opening because they're a liability to banks thanks to online stores. Despite what politicians would love you to think, job growth is exponentially decreasing and it will continue to do so until something economically revolutionary can offset it. Population is exponentially growing. Rich are getting richer, poor are getting poorer. Yup, we're pretty -blam!-ed. The earth is our sandwich and we are the mold consuming it. Few hundred years and they'll look back at our time era as a golden age when people generally had what they needed.
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Hey Cellar Door. It's nice to see you just as logical as I remembered.
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Woahhhah
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Edited by meh: 12/31/2015 4:26:11 AMI don't think so. Technology develops at a much faster rate then we can properly implement it. Because of the time required to implement these changes, it allows for a gradual transition of jobs. That being said, i do believe that capitalism has put in place several walls to advancement, for example all of the massive oil company's slowing the progress of renewables. However, this is not for the sake of society, just simple greed and shortsightedness.
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New industries will open up. Take Obama care for example. Ever since Obamacare came out, the government is hell bent on knowing whether or not you have health insurance so that they can fine your ass if you don't. Companies that offer their employees insurance are required to file form 1094-C's. This causes employers a massive headache since it's a shitload of work, so a new industry popped up and now employers hire people to file these forms for them. Yea, this really has nothing to do with technology, but my point is that new industries pop up all the time.
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Progress is inevitable. Jobs that revolve around technology will fall because of advancement, people will just have to adapt. Like, slavery. Gotta adapt man
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Well think about this all those robots need programmers, a -blam!- load mechanics, and monitors of the networks/satellites. It will just widen the divide between blue collar and white collar. That's my 2 cents
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Eventually we need to stray from the idea that we can't let people lose jobs for the sake of advancement. For example, the older energy industries that are on the way out due to lack of resources anyways need to be replaced by cleaner and more advanced energy sources, but a lot of people, particularly in my state, get mad about losing jobs because of the coal industry. Stagnation is worse than sacrifice. Sacrifice is just life. Stagnation is death.
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I'm not sure about how the economy and such would work out, but wouldn't those people in jobs that used to be relevant shift to fill other jobs? It might be tough for the people getting phased out and the people who are being brought up during the transition, but an educational focus would be shifted to other fields and the job situation would balance out eventually, would it not?
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#blessup
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Edited by Woupsea: 12/31/2015 3:33:13 AMWe'll probably continue past the wall if it means saving money in the long run, people act on self interest and I don't think that sympathy for the poor mechanic that you'll be putting out of business will do anything to change that. This reminds me of the conspiracy that doctors have the ability to cure most diseases off but choose not to in order to maintain their job security
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Im sure we will eventually hit a wall but for now I think we will keep going until someone tries to screw it up, one reason i think the whole cars being controlled by a computer system isnt active much is because hackers can easily cause mayhem with it, it seems like the real criminals of the future wiil be people in basements lol
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I actually think we already have in a way.