/sci/ - Science & Math

>>1917321

I don't know why you added that last comment. Cracked, even though it is a humor website, usually has some decently researched articles.

>>1917346
I know, but I've seen people here dismiss their writing before. They're intelligent people.

>>1917361
The writers at Cracked, I mean.

>>1917361

Ah, I see. They seem like they're nerds. They're like /sci/ posters but smarter.

Bump. Post scarcity futurism stuff, and why it won't work and resources that already should be post-scarcity are being paid for.

And now I'm depressed

The world will never be post-scarcity. It might be post-scarcity relative to the present, but there will always be a shortage of SOMETHING. Think of it, 20,000 years ago resources consisted of food, food, and more food... and resources were scarce. Now, food is copmaritively dirt cheap (in any industrialized country that is). The average person can base there entirely diet off some arbitrary set of likes and dislikes without giving any thought to what their diet requires or what is cheap... and still that person would only be spending 10% of their income on food. By paleolithic standards, we are already post scarcity.

tl;dr - we will simply find something that isn't scarce

Utopia is by definition unachievable and if any of you EVER thought otherwise you are idiots. The world will always be gray, never simply black or white, never without suffering but never with nothing but suffering.

Any form of data is now readily available to anybody with an ounce of will to find it.

It's a shame physical things are harder to manufacture and distribute.

even knowledge itself is post-scarcity since wikipedia and google were infented

>>1917493
>infented
And yet here we are. lol

>The Venus Project

>>1917483
No reason not to strive for it. We can make things better even if we can't make them perfect.

>>1917493even knowledge itself is post-scarcity

And yet people still aren't buying. Do we have to pay people to not be retarded? What about voting privileges AND whatever piece of electronic crap is popular for everyone that passes a knowledge based test on election years?

>>1917485
For now.

>>1917589
Well duh. I'm just getting pissed at people like >>1917459
>And now I'm depressed
As if he was wholey expecting to wake up one day in a perfect world, as if the word "perfect" held any meaning in this context.

>>1917590
>And yet people still aren't buying.

College

great I just spent like two hours on cracked because of you

The stuff I've paid for over the years is mostly custom made. Or live concerts, or handmade gourmet dinners, frivolous shit that you nonetheless can't get from autolabor. Nobody nets much from it but it might be enough to take three vacations a month instead of two, that sort of thing.

>>1917321
>post-scarcity
No one fucking sense that. At least, no one with a modicum of sense says that.

>>1918036
I don't think anyone said it's practical. It's a utopia.

>>1918116
Ok...
I think it's poignant that I now bring up the etymology behind Utopia. It's U- topia, Greek (IIRC), u- prefix for "not" and topia for "place". Literally meaning "no place" or "nowhere".

Specifically, post-scarcity is nowhere and never will be.

>>1917992
Yeah, the logical amongst us hope things turn out like they do in your reality, but we need to avoid corporations assraping consumers for stuff that can be free in the transitional time.

Is this supposed to be a worldwide utopia for what we see fit for the world, or a utopia for what our society believes to be a utopia?

>>1917914
you bring up a good point; a variety of resources like the internet and public library system coupled with an internship or job related to the field you wish to study can do just as good a job as college (maybe not as quickly, but knowledge is knowledge, you're still getting the same thing out of it). a lot of countries now have little-to-no-cost higher education now, and is it any wonder those countries have been branded socialist?

well, they are socialist, but in certain countries like america, that is something we've been brainwashed to frown upon; probably due to the efforts of the very same colleges trying to convince you that you need a degree to get anywhere in life.

think about it, it's just a little piece of paper with your name and major on it, it says nothing of your true accomplishments or experience besides the fact that you went to college. someone just as learned as a graduate or even more so would be turned down for a job on the spot if someone with a degree came along. it's simply an artificial construction to extort money from you in exchange for making you do work you could have done yourself.

/rant

pic related; get a degree, get a job

>>1918133
Too bad we live in an absolutely certificate-obsessed world, where just that piece of paper alone is a set requirement for high-level positions.

I personally think a degree from any university outside the top 40 or so schools in the country is more or less a waste, especially if the school in question is private, but hey, what are you gonna do? The system won't change overnight. Better to work from within and gradually develop less rigid standards.

Chances are it will become very socialist. With things costing even less and more jobs being automated, unemployment will rise but with more value in products, it won't be so bad. There will still be plenty of thinking jobs and the opportunity to get rich so motivation will still exist but for the most part, unemployment will rise significantly but they will still have a very good standard of living.

>>1918151
considering that MIT one of the biggest university is the world gives their material away for free, yeah even the top 40 is a wast. :/

>>1918182
I think we'll find ways to put people who are inevitably replaced by machines to work they can enjoy. Maybe that will be the point in our civilization's history when things like poverty become a real concern in the eyes of the well-fed masses. It's anyone's guess, but we can hope.

>>1918202
They give away their curriculum, but not the human to human interaction you expect from an elite program. Not all of us can go it alone, but those who can must really wonder why they have to put up with certificate-based education.

>>1918210
Think about the people in the world, particularly scientists and artists. They often don't do what they do for money. If people don't need to work, they can just do things like that. People make music so people listen to it, not to make money. You do research because you love the subject, you paint because you love to paint.

>>1918210
This kind of situation would very much polarise classes so that the middle class merges with the lower class. The Middle class has been said numerous times to be the backbone of a democratic society so it would have to change in one of two ways. Either the new merged middle lower class shows they are important through protests and the like forcing the government to bring in a highly socialist system and avoid poverty for the majority, or the classes divide too much and the wealthy hold too much power so they control everything and we are back to a nobles and peasants system.

>>1918234
Now this is something I have long dreamed of. It reminds me of the ancient Greek Gymnasiums, where physical fitness and mental sharpness were matters of pride, not means of income.

Opening the Gymnasium doors to all of society would be wonderful.

>>1918249
The Greeks had slaves, we have machines. That actually sounds plausible.

>>1918249
We're getting utopian now, but I'm sure everyone wants something similar.

>>1918219
true, however forums all over the internet provide places for human to human interaction.

>>1918285
sorry INTELLIGENT human to human interaction, I missed that part.

>>1918133

Most employers value resumes more than stand alone certificates. It's obvious that they'll take certs into account when scanning your record of past careers, education, and accomplishments, but it's only a part of the whole process of getting employed.

>>1918290
But saying that you gave yourself the equivalent of a bachelor's degree while working at McDonald's is hardly going to convince a prospective employer.

>>1918296
True dat.

>>1918296

That's why you (speaking to people in general here) should actually do stuff that enhances their worth and makes them a more contributing person so that potential employers scanning their resumes will be more eager to hire them.

I'm also aware of the possibility that people can write absolutel bullshit on their resumes. In that case, they can hang themselves in shame for cheating the system and their fellow kin.

>>1918296
the problem is you cant get any good jobs without a degree :/

inb4 Inurdaes

>>1918523
Ohai.

In a world of 'post-scarcity', people will have their basic needs met for much less effort, they'll have better access to information, and a lot more free time - this isn't going to destroy the poor, if anything - the poor have a much better deal, they can live more comfortably for less.

Already in Australia, I know plenty of people who are living off welfare (though often working maybe one day a week or working a little bit online) and have pretty decent lives, eat well, have enough money for entertainment outside of the home but prefer to do more meaningful things. Even if welfare were entirely cancelled tommorow (as if), these people would be able to get on pretty well, doing very little.

The emerging 'world leisure class' will simply end up doing what the wealthy and super-wealthy already do, they often have their interests and contribute to society because it gives them meaning. If anything, every human being will contribute a higher quality of work when they don't feel like they're being forced to out of scarcity.

So in 50-60 years, a lot of manual labour jobs may be gone, but there'll be all sorts of openings for people wanting to help build and improve the robots that have replaced these labour jobs. Everyone will become more like 'stockholders' in the way they contribute than workers.

With the end of media being highly profitable, we might see less Dan Browns, JK Rowlings, etc. and more people who are writing out of a genuine interest in conveying some truth.

>>1918710
>If anything, every human being will contribute a higher quality of work when they don't feel like they're being forced to out of scarcity.

>They're like /sci/ posters but smarter.
i.e. better at dredging up facts worth caring about, equally bad at not jumping to conclusions

>>1917321
The only reason a society will end in that is tyranny. When the people don't actually have the power to say "no", because those with power in the government are there because those with money, and greed for more of it.

Such is ACTA. People don't want it, but we're going to get it because there are corporations that say "jump", and the government rushes to polish their already spit-shined boots, sexually servicing them all the while, then the government jumps.

If things go on course such as they are, there will probably be a revolution, but the real question is: do the people even have the power, let alone the will anymore, to be able to overthrow the tyrants? Or has all of our vigilance already become complacence?