[ExI] US regulators will certify first small nuclear reactor design

[spike at rainier66.com]

From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of Mike Dougherty via extropy-chat
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>…I'm happy to see the waste associated with hauling tech workers to a remote location so they can rearrange electrons for 8-10 hours then arrive to their starting point each day is (thanks to covid) finally yielding to 'work from home'  Hopefully we continue in this direction, but I suspect humans like to go places too much.  I've done 2 music concerts streaming to my living room because I prefer to not go places [especially long distances to pay-for-parking and way too many other people]…

 

 

Mike you have made a number of interesting comment-worthy observations, but I want to focus on the work-at-home part for a minute.

 

When I was working in electronics manufacturing around 1990, I observed a huge gap between the management/technical staff and the assemblers.  The assemblers didn’t make enough money to live close by where the price of any shelter was already absurd and rising fast, so they lived out in the central valley.  That meant they needed to drive an hour or more each way, longer than that if there was an accident.  That was uncompensated time they put into their jobs.

 

Now… we have a lot of stay-at-home workers, but that too creates a gap, actually an even bigger one.  Time is money.  Once you start adding up all the time not spent on the road, add up the money not spent on fuel, tires, wear on a Detroit, add up the reduced need for a nice car (any cheap old rat-mobile will do if you seldom go places) add up aaaaallll the benefits from working at home, oh boy, such a deal.  

 

However…

 

(You knew there would be a however…)

 

…not everyone can work from home because only some jobs are that way.  We think of them as more common than they are because we are the lucky ones.  I retired before that transition, but I wouldn’t have been one: a prole cannot take classified info out of the office.  An inner-circle can, and can get caught, and not be prosecuted, but a prole cannot.  Law applies to us.

 

So… some people can work from home and do, greatly to their benefit in so many ways, one of which I didn’t even mention: mental well-being.  But now we have a huge gap: those who can and those who cannot.

 

I will leave this on an upbeat thought: those who can work from home do.  Result: lower traffic.  Less risk.  New entry-level jobs for some, delivering groceries and supplies.  For those who can, well good for us.  We get a better way to live our lives.  For those who cannot, they now have a clear goal: get qualified for a job that lets them stay at home and work from there.

 

spike

 

 

 

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