[ExI] The Real Threat of Artificial Intelligence

[Dave Sill]

On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 11:48 AM, William Flynn Wallace <foozler83 at gmail.com
> wrote:

>
> On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 12:48 AM, Stuart LaForge <avant at sollegro.com>
> wrote:
>>
>>
>> It is preposterous to think that flipping burgers or waiting tables gives
>> people purpose. I would instead warrant that the majority who work such
>> menial jobs do so because they must and not necessarily because they want
>> to.
>>
>
Bill wrote this part:

>
>> ​I strongly disagree.  I have worked as a waiter, ditchdigger, farm
>> worker, soda jerk, roofer and more.  I took pride in everything I did.
>>  "Look that that ditch.  Is it not a thing of beauty?"  Ok, so that's a bit
>> much, but I think that the attitude that manual laborers are not enjoying
>> their jobs is just mistaken, and the idea that they can't get some meaning
>> out of it is patronizing.  You are saying that if manual labor is all a
>> person is capable of, then they do not have and cannot have a meaningful
>> life.  Just wrong.
>>
>
Taking pride in your work is fine, everyone should do that. But that's not
on the same level as giving one purpose. I've worked menial jobs and taken
pride in my work, but it was always just a means to a paycheck. I never
thought to myself: "if I don't mow these lawns, who will? Will they as good
a job? What if they don't?"

Given the choice, I'd have found it more meaningful to be paid the same
rate to help out at some non-profit like an animal shelter or to check in
on elderly residents and help them out, if needed. Maybe when unemployment
is at 90+% we'll find a way to do something like that. Not a free UBI but
payment for services rendered to society.

-Dave
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20170629/becf0c2a/attachment.html>