So I was talking with a friend on the phone today, and we landed on the topic of technology eventually taking our jobs. Seeing as this is already happening in certain sectors of our economy, it’s not unrealistic to predict that it may expand to all jobs at some point in the future.

And typically, when this idea is brought up, it’s seen in a negative light. But perhaps we’re viewing it all wrong. If computers did everything for us, then every human could, realistically, have all of their needs met. Money wouldn’t really be a factor if human work was non-existent.

This book argues that such a reality would be terrible for humanity, but I found a quote in it that somewhat supports my perspective: “Don’t put one foot in your job and the other in your dream, Ed. Go ahead and quit, or resign yourself to this life. It’s just too much of a temptation for fate to split you right up the middle before you’ve made up your mind which way to go.”

The question that immediately arises is: What if someone likes their job and wants to work? Well, in that case, we could have spaces where people could recreationally do these particular things. However, instead of being extrinsically motivated by money, you would only do things for purely intrinsic purposes.

Time is a valuable and limited resource, and the fact that many of us dedicate huge chunks of our time to jobs that bring little to no satisfaction is quite tragic. The only reason why people work jobs that they hate is because they have to in order to survive. But what is life if we’re only surviving and not enjoying?

Our time could be spent in much better ways if we weren’t in the constant pursuit of money, stuck in the rat-race until we ultimately run out of energy and die. It sounds morbid, but maybe the lives that many of us live are quite depressing when we look at them as a whole.

Of course, there are certain problems I could foresee arising from a world in which humans didn’t need to work. If there was absolutely nothing that needed to be done, it could be easy for many of us to fall victim to addiction. Drugs, alcohol, social media, and screens in general could overtake so many lives even more so than they already do. So I think certain precautions would need to be taken in order to prevent such a reality from happening.

But I also think that if humans didn’t work, we’d feel significantly less stress on a daily basis and wouldn’t feel as much of a need to dull our minds with so many useless substances. Our time could be spent in other ways: exploring new hobbies and passions, connecting with other people, traveling, spending time in nature. There is literally a world full of stuff to do that we could partake in if our lives weren’t so consumed by work.

13 Comments

  1. It will be a VERY VERY long time before machines will be doing everything for us. Please remember that all of these machines are designed by humans, and humans have flaws…machines and ROBOTS are very cool, but they have a VERY long way to go to be advanced enough to do all of the jobs for everyone….. humans NEED to be NEEDED and NEED A PURPOSE. Sure, we like to be pampered, and be thanked for a job well done… and yes….. advancements in technology will make things bigger, better, faster, cheaper….but there needs to be an IDEA and a creative input to make that idea a reality. MACHINES CAN NOT IMAGINE, THEY HAVE NO MOTIVATION UNLESS SOMEONE INPUT THE MEANS FOR THE MACHINE TO DO something/ANYTHING. Having machines do EVERYTHING for us, will create chaos in the long run….. I will give you a prime example. Have you seen the driverless cars and vans that are popping up in cities lately? — EVENTUALLY, they will be delivering things like amazon packages, and Uber-ing people around. Yes, it’s a great service…..but having driverless cars all over will be a DEEEEEEE-ZASTER until they get things under control. in a city….driverless cars will not work well, and there will be loads of accidents EVERY SINGLE DAY…. how do I know??? — these things work on a ‘HIVE MIND” MENTALITY…. they see people or “blobs” as an obstruction to avoid or stop in front of….humans can change their mind at the drop of a hat, or make a huge mistake by darting in front of the driverless car in a zig zag formation, etc…. the car must “see” the human blob…..detect that it IS a human blob, go through it’s programmed response, and God forbid if the human zigs or zags during it’s processing…..the whole business has to be gone through again for the machine to “react” properly, or IMPROPERLY… it won’t know the difference really….put in the other factor that these will be in multiple lanes of highways, with a hive mind….dealing with humans that can pull a u turn or boneheaded move on the highway at the drop of a hat……. we have lawsuits…. who do you sue? — there is NO ONE behind the wheel, just a program. the ONLY way these cars will work properly, is if they are regulated to ONE lane….like an HOV lane, to pick up, and deliver people or property….like a slot car or cable car. Okay…. onto another point. yes….machines are capable of serious upgrades AND improvements, and like I said…. robots are very cool… but they won’t replace a human any time soon, because humans would tire easily of “how limited” the machine is at the time…..not saying they won’t serve a purpose, just that IT…. can’t be all things to all people….and PEOPLE will have to be the ones who improve the design. Pampered and not challenged, we will suffer from IDIOCRACY, and humans NEED a CHALLENCE, HOPE, and EACH OTHER for life to be worth living.

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    1. Thanks for your comment! I think at the rate at which technology has been expanding, it is possible that we could potentially see this shift starting to happen in our own lives.

      Of course perfection (or at least human level efficiency) will take some time and effort, but I think with machine learning technologies, computers will be able to adapt to the changes that are necessary.

      With self driving cars, there are of course going to be certain difficulties, but I wonder if these issues will be better or worse than the ones we already have regarding driving in the US. At this point, car accidents are the leading cause of death for americans between the ages of 1 and 54. If there is any sort of decrease in accidents caused by self driving cars, I would consider that a success. It’s hard to say who would be “at fault” for accidents… but maybe that will, in itself, change the way we conceive of “fault” entirely.

      I dont think that work is necessary in order to have meaning in life. I think that meaning can be found in other ways. Or perhaps the idea of meaning would change given such a shift in our culture. Or maybe humans would still play a role in the creative process, emphasizing it way more than we already do because they wouldnt need to do the jobs that could be automated

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  2. I enjoyed your take on this. It was refreshing to see a more positive outlook to the advancements of technology in our society.

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  4. Yes, our relentless economic system means, with labour time saved by technological advances, we don’t enjoy more quality and creative time – but we work and consume more. Transport technology has saved us time – but, we are expected by our employers to do more and by companies, to buy more, it seems to me.

    So, I think tech advancements need to go hand in hand with labour unionisation and rights, making sure that time saved doesn’t mean we’re simply expected to do more! What do you think?

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    1. Those are some really good points. I definitely agree that we take the time we would have been doing other things, and use it to produce more. It seems as though any advancement in technology, under the current systems in place, speeds us up rather than slowing us down and allowing us to appreciate the moment.

      Tech advancements should go hand in hand with labor unionization, but honestly I’m not quite sure what that would look like on a large scale. Given the fact that we had to work so hard in order to reduce our hours down to 40/week, which is still too much time, reducing them anymore would present major challenges.

      Also with this comes the idea of increasing the minimum wage. If we were to, for example, manage to cut our hours in half, would the proposed minimum wage of 15/hour double or remain the same?

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      1. Yes, those are interesting points. I suppose, as well as working hours, working conditions, generally, should also improve – rather than worsen. Now that Amazon can track the live movements of their warehouse staff, they can discipline them for deviating from the most efficient route. That kind of inhumane control over a human being wasn’t possible before – even under terrible regimes.

        I think wage increases would definitely need to occur and, perhaps, government subsidy for living costs, such as childcare and housing.

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      2. I had no idea that Amazon did that. I guess, ultimately, technology is a neutral thing and can be used in a variety of ways – maliciously or for improving society. How it is used is a reflection of humanity rather than the other way around.

        In the upcoming years, as technology continues to develop and grow, I think how we choose to use it will reveal deeper elements of the human condition. Are humans inherently selfish? Benevolent? Somewhere in between?

        It’s interesting to think that (relatively) minor changes in the system lead to changes in a variety of areas (as you mentioned with living costs, childcare and housing). Whether we see the connection or not is irrelevant because it’s like a domino effect. Sometimes it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around these ideas because I know I’m always missing certain impacts that are important to consider.

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      3. Yes, I really agree – how it is used. If technology is in the hands of corporations, it will be used to profit – at the expense of everyone else – and the planet.

        If it is used by people for people, then it can be used to improve the quality of our lives, I think.

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