Comment by Natsu
2 days ago
The only constant has always been change. And that just raises the question of why should we preserve ditch digging for our children just so they have meaningless labor to cling to, when we have the option to make new and better things for people. Few of us here are 'labor' in any meaningful sense, to begin with. And while I have spent time working at a factory, and I don't begrudge the robots for taking it away.
The notion that there's some idyllic past to cling to is just wishful thinking to me. The days when one person working with their body alone could have meaningful impact are long gone. We'll have to find a new prosperity that doesn't rely on zero sum thinking from economists who divide by zero, too.
No no, the question is whether you are willing to sacrifice your comfort and your children's comfort, and your grandchildren's comfort... in exchange for (hopefully) your great grandchildren's comfort.
That hasn't been my family's experience, nor my own. My grandfather's generation had already adapted to the problems of my great grandfather's generation, though they certainly did struggle.
Your great grandfather was alive during mass industrialization? In the early 1800s?
No one is saying every generation goes through this trough. Obviously. That would make no sense.
The claim is that periods of rapid technological change (i.e. industrialization, potentially AI) produce a trough of horrible conditions that then make room for a climb to conditions better than the pre-change ones.
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