Comment by throwaway89864
4 days ago
It's more or less reverse to the mean. The period in which a people had both access to education and leverage through their labor and intellect is super short. For most of recorded history, the bulk of humanity lived as peasants, serfs, or slaves. They were mostly illiterate, bound to the land or to a master, and had little power to bargain over the terms of their (or their children) lives.
I'm too young to be financially secure given my impoverished background, not having parents in my life, being homeless as a teenager, etc. But too old and physically disabled to change course from tech. Nothing to do but keep walking through this tunnel and see where it ends up. It's scary!
I've had a couple of lucky breaks but I worry about my kids. About their ability to find meaning in life, their ability to find a way to stay afloat and about their ability to continue to form long term relationships with other humans who are turning inwards ever more.
It's crazy, intellectual and creative pursuits gave my life meaning and direction. What now? How do we create paths for our children to do the same given that it looks like the human experience is well on its way to full commoditization?
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same here, and it often keeps me up at night. for a few years i really felt like i had finally managed to get on track towards escaping the poverty i was born into, now i'm not so sure anymore in the long term. the good thing is at least i know i somehow managed to claw my way upwards from rock bottom to a tech job once already, so whatever the future might throw at me i'll probably be able to somehow deal with that too.
I wish I had your confidence. I also climbed up the ladder a ways but I've been hit by a pretty serious medical diagnosis, a layoff, and this AI stuff... I feel extremely screwed
"The arc of the moral universe is long but it reverts to the mean" is somehow less inspiring.
>For most of recorded history, the bulk of humanity lived as peasants, serfs, or slaves. They were mostly illiterate, bound to the land or to a master, and had little power to bargain over the terms of their (or their children) lives.
I feel like we should be doing everything we can to not revert back to that way of life.
No man wants to do the things that need to be done, maybe it's the birth control in the water
Disagree. Scribes, doctors, bankers, and government clerks always existed, even if the education to do it was expensive and exclusive. For the first time in history, this labor, including its knowledge content might become automated and commoditized.
Yes, on the other hand these positions were usually not given to serfs. Positions were usually filled by a ruler, selecting from his subjects, largely determined by birth rights.
Bankers did not exist in 10,000 BC
You're talking “always existed” too literally.