Unpopular topic that must be discussed. Advances in Technology and the end of Money.

[William2012]

The title says a lot.
This is important to discuss, as it will happen at some point.
I need some liberty minded futurists to comment on this
This does worry/confuse me

With advances in technology it honestly looks as though at some point in the future we will be able to harness thousands of times more energy than we consume. With many advances in Computation and Robotics, humans will not be a neccesity in industry, and all production would be achieved at near zero cost.

With various different technologies such as Nuclear Fusion(it is making headway 30 years before 1 plant can power a whole country),

Geothermal(with a potential in the next 50 years to harness 200-2000 zettajoules of energy[The whole world currently uses less than 1/2 of a zettajoule, and the actual maximum thats available in earth is about 12-13,000 zettajoules] This is according to some top notch scientists at MIT )

Wind Power, which the Department of Energy was recently forced to admit was allready a viable technology and could power our entire country.

Solar Energy, with recent advances in the technology in concerns to thin film cells it looks as though this will be a viable technology within a decade, possibly achieving a price tag of .10 cents per watt

Wave and Tide, which is advanced enough currently that it could power half this country if we had some brave investors.

There is other stuff to, as I mentioned before with advances in computers and robotics it is likely that within 50 years all productivity(example; Mining, Refining, Manufacture) will be in the control of automatons. We will no longer be neccesary for the production of food, cars, metals, computers, and everything else we consume.
Even services will be automated at some point. Medicine, Cooking, Cleaning, the list goes on and on


The ultimate reality here is when this all happens.... monetary policy of any sort will be brought into antiquity.

I can't decide is this a good thing? or a bad thing?
Would we have to switch to some other political system, if money becomes inherently unviable what kind of changes would liberty minded individuals have to implement in order to protect freedom..

Thanks, this subject is making my brain bleed. Its hard to imagine a world where production could outstrip demand a hundred times over, and where supply for most goods is no longer limited.
Stuff is nice,
But I'd rather be a turtle waddling in the mud, than a dead turtle covered in jewels.

[Pete]

The way it OUGHT to work is that productivity means less work required to meet one's needs, resulting in more discretionary time to pursue other matters which may or may not require money. New needs may arise. We'll always need money.

TPTB seem to have concluded that we don't need PEOPLE, which is troubling.

So what are you going to be, an Eloi or a Morlock? :D

[nickcoons]

In Chapter 2 of Mary Ruwart's "Healing Our World" (http://www.ruwart.com/Healing/chap2.html), she describes what wealth is. This may be a good starting point to have your question answered.

A long time ago, people use to have to grow and harvest crops by hand. Now we have machines doing most of that work. When people are freed from relatively low-skilled tasks, they have time available to spend on other things, in general.

For instance, we've had a booming tech industry for at least the past decade. One-hundred years ago, we had no such thing. Instead, people were too focused on trying to figure out how to feed themselves. Now that the feeding problem is mostly taken care of because it's mostly handled by machines, we have the ability to tackle other things that we had never conceived of 100 years ago, such as creating the internet.

When production gets to be even more efficient, it will spur on new technologies. With a surplus of energy that you've described, it may become feasible to begin colonizing the moon and nearby planets. Then we'll have other challenges that we don't even consider today, like getting food and other resources to those far off places.

Each solution creates not only an advancement, but a new need that itself must be solved. This is nothing new, and there's nothing special about the time in which we live where we're nearing the end of the need for humans. At any given point in time, we can project when humans are no longer needed for production, but that will never happen because we can't predict what new challenges to be solved each new type of wealth will incur.

[William2012]

The way it OUGHT to work is that productivity means less work required to meet one's needs, resulting in more discretionary time to pursue other matters which may or may not require money. New needs may arise. We'll always need money.

TPTB seem to have concluded that we don't need PEOPLE, which is troubling.

So what are you going to be, an Eloi or a Morlock? :D

Why will we need money when supply outstrips money by a hundred times, And cancer can be cured with a $5 shot of gold nanoparticles zapped with radiowaves.

I don't know if you stay on top of technology, I do I can say I love technical toys nearly as much as I love freedom.

Within 35 years we will have working fusion plants that would provide so much energy that its would be technically rediculous to even charge for it... This isn't even counting on other forms of energy production.

People are allready working on the robotics needed to replace humans at every level of productivity. Farmers, Miners, Automakers, Fishers, Tailors, Loggers, every conceivable productive job.

When all these things are produced at zero cost.. I don't understand how any monetary system will be able to continue.

Can an economy thrive when you can technically sell a brand new vehicle for a $100 or a gram of silver and consider that a massive profit? Or erect a fully functional house with electricity and plumbing for a couple hundred more, or a couple extra grams of silver...

If you believe that any monetary system can handle this please please explain.

My fear is that ultimately when this happens that money can't survive, and then cars,computers,houses,tv's,medicine will be considered a right.
And this may sound good to many on surface but if it becomes a right can it be taken away?

This is going to happen if you wan't I can show you to a vast number of links showing.
I mean google quantum computers..... Scientists have already made one, relatively weak but still computing on atoms was a massive breakthrough.

Just to explain an example of a HUGE change I will use Quantum Computers,
A quantum computer the size of a wrist watch will be able to calculate in a SECOND, what my current computer would take TRILLIONS OF YEARS to calculate.

We are actually talking computers that in the next 35-65 years could surpass us in intellectual capacity.

Theres a lot of stuff going on in the world that very few people seem to be aware of.

[heavenlyboy34]

My first thought after reading your post is that we should ask some questions to help us decide what to think about the issue, like:

1) Who pays for all this technology?
2) Who benefits?
3) Who is harmed?
4) What are the potential hazards?

I'm not up to date on technology as you seem to be, so you would be better fit to answer these. As an aside, many of the great dystopian fictional stories have been about man's struggle against progress/technology. Food for thought! ;):)

[William2012]

In Chapter 2 of Mary Ruwart's "Healing Our World" (http://www.ruwart.com/Healing/chap2.html), she describes what wealth is. This may be a good starting point to have your question answered.

A long time ago, people use to have to grow and harvest crops by hand. Now we have machines doing most of that work. When people are freed from relatively low-skilled tasks, they have time available to spend on other things, in general.

For instance, we've had a booming tech industry for at least the past decade. One-hundred years ago, we had no such thing. Instead, people were too focused on trying to figure out how to feed themselves. Now that the feeding problem is mostly taken care of because it's mostly handled by machines, we have the ability to tackle other things that we had never conceived of 100 years ago, such as creating the internet.

When production gets to be even more efficient, it will spur on new technologies. With a surplus of energy that you've described, it may become feasible to begin colonizing the moon and nearby planets. Then we'll have other challenges that we don't even consider today, like getting food and other resources to those far off places.

Each solution creates not only an advancement, but a new need that itself must be solved. This is nothing new, and there's nothing special about the time in which we live where we're nearing the end of the need for humans. At any given point in time, we can project when humans are no longer needed for production, but that will never happen because we can't predict what new challenges to be solved each new type of wealth will incur.


So what you are saying is that as Production increases to the point where a monetary system is no longer viable, That we will simply drop money and go fishing( for fun)

I would express that when said event does occur it would be a necessity to no longer have government.
At any such point any form of government should be considered unneccesary and counter productive(which actually would be the case).

[pcosmar]

Yeah, I read Sci-Fi Too. I have for years I also read and still keep up on pure science.

So,,,, just where are those extraterrestrial mining operations that were going to be in place by 2000?
As I remember we were going to have a fleet of shuttles by 1980.

I enjoy the speculation of possible futures, The "what If" ideas presented.
I however live in the real world. I am also working on preventing some of those other "what if" scenarios from becoming reality.

[William2012]

My first thought after reading your post is that we should ask some questions to help us decide what to think about the issue, like:

1) Who pays for all this technology?
2) Who benefits?
3) Who is harmed?
4) What are the potential hazards?

I'm not up to date on technology as you seem to be, so you would be better fit to answer these. As an aside, many of the great dystopian fictional stories have been about man's struggle against progress/technology. Food for thought! ;):)

On the energy side, note the 2 most promising technologies are Fusion and Geothermal
1)Currently the ones who are attempting to get it done are scientists, alot of it is not currently feasible but will be in a relatively short time(I consider 50 years short). When the advancements are finally made, Theres nothing I can see that would stop its implementation.

2) Technically speaking everyone would, every country would be able to access Cheap/Clean/Renewable energy; So the benefits would literally be the end of third world countries(energy is a key factor) another side benefit would be that as Nickcoons mentioned travel and colonization of The moon, mars, titan, europa would not only become feasable but cheap and easy.

3) Who is harmed, this is situational we are talking about technologies that could potentially allow a single country to provide energy for the world.
As such it could be used as a tool for globalists, as energy could be seen as a right and as such possibly be taken away.
On the other hand It may be that this is not the case. And as such since it was so cheap and reproducible there would be nothing wrong with ending all third world countries.

4) Potential hazards, Well fusion is actually clean unlike fission, and Geothermal will be clean when its finally viable. Oh There was a case I believe though in switzterland(If I remember) Of some drilling occuring to implement Geothermal energy but it cause an actual earthquake (they were doing it right over their own little earthquake central though)

The idea of total automation of production is another thing entirely though

1) I don't know, its allready happened a bit over time. Look at how the auto industry has largely gone robotic. But compared to what is possible that is nothing

2) When total automation of production finally occurs, and products/services cost near zero to produce, Supply will surpass demand on all everyday things from TV's to Cars' to Houses potentially by hundreds of times. This could lead to a total collapse of the monetary system. Which I guess could be a good thing.
A person could live a nice life(With house/food/clothes/energy) fishing/hunting/surfing the net/etc, without having to work for it, but simultaneously not being parasitic to those around them.

3) My fear is that when this happens since everything can be provided at near zero cost it would basically have to be considered a right. And as such if we have a corrupt government when it does happen, they may take these rights away from certain people.

4) Same as 3 but with an additional fear. Quantum Computation, which in at MOST a half a century will be here will at that time possess intelectual capacities far beyond our own(thousands if not millions of times greater), to the point they could have ambition.
This combined with the total automation of production could be hazardous to our health.
BTW, if you think I am exagerating about Quantum Computers do a google, Scientists have already succesfully computed off 7 atoms. Look at there potential.
There is also the possibility we could circumvent this danger by upgrading our own brain functions with a quantum computer aswell, But when that tech is around I am gonna wait a decade or so(sounds sketchy).

My basic message is keep an eye on technology, and look as far ahead as possible. The realization is that we are going to see greater advances in technology in the next 20 years than we have seen since the beginning of our species.

[pacelli]

In what ways have previous technological advances changed monetary and political policy?

[William2012]

Yeah, I read Sci-Fi Too. I have for years I also read and still keep up on pure science.

So,,,, just where are those extraterrestrial mining operations that were going to be in place by 2000?
As I remember we were going to have a fleet of shuttles by 1980.

I enjoy the speculation of possible futures, The "what If" ideas presented.
I however live in the real world. I am also working on preventing some of those other "what if" scenarios from becoming reality.

No offense meant here but this is going to happen. IT IS HAPPENING. Look at some of the stuff that has happened. We were able to compute off 7 atoms, a couple test patients(paralyzed) have had chips put in there brain that allowed them to take steps. We have Hall Effect Ion Thrusters that are capable of bringing us to Mars and Back using only 72 lbs of Xenon Gas, We have had a neuroscientist grow a rats braincells on a computer chip(which produced actual brainwaves) Fusion has almost reached 100% efficiency(input is slightly less than output EDIT HERE; Actually its other way around Output is slightly less than Input sorry for typo) Japanese scientists created inorganic artificial muscles that are better than our own and someday may replace them. We can in laboratorys make detailed holograms, We have designs for trains that can go 4,000 mph using only 2% of the energy that a plane will take to go the same difference. We now know that all cancer can be cured by Gold Nanoparticles as they attach to cancer cells, which can then be bombard by radiowaves that hit gold specifically.

Scientific growth is exponential always has been.


EDIT HERE; I should add that these gold nanoparticles have been sucessful, but are prevented from hitting the market by criminals(Like our own FDA) that work for governments worldwide who wont let a terminally ill patient receive an experimental treatment because it may kill them.... what a joke

[nickcoons]

So what you are saying is that as Production increases to the point where a monetary system is no longer viable, That we will simply drop money and go fishing( for fun)

No, I'm saying just the opposite. As production increases, we will find new needs of production and new challenges to conquer. I don't think there is ever an end to that journey.


I would express that when said event does occur it would be a necessity to no longer have government.
At any such point any form of government should be considered unneccesary and counter productive(which actually would be the case).

I would say that we currently have no need for government, but that's a different topic altogether :).

[Andrew Ryan]

Technology will be mankind's salvation.

[William2012]

No, I'm saying just the opposite. As production increases, we will find new needs of production and new challenges to conquer. I don't think there is ever an end to that journey.



I would say that we currently have no need for government, but that's a different topic altogether :).

I actually concur with you on the no need for government, in this age of communications technology the functions of government are actually counter productive to growth and progress.
I take it you are a fan of Anarcho-Capitalism? Murray N. Rothbard is a brilliant speaker.

I see where you are coming from, and it fits quite nicely with my belief that man must keep exploring (Rocketry/Aerodynamics/Engineering/etc are some of my favorite subjects)


Technology will be mankind's salvation.
I agree with you to a great extent, I just hope the insanity of the PTB doesn't prove this Idealism.

Peace.

“We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up until now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future.” Max Planck

“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it” Max Planck

[hypnagogue]

It'll be more than 50 years, but I believe the shift you're trying to contemplate is the point at which our infrastructure can produce so near infinitely that the notion of scarcity is eliminated. The suggestion that this can occur is still debatable, though I personally am sympathetic to the idea.

Without scarcity there is no economics. Without limits on supply nothing has any value. Yes, money would cease to exist because there would no longer be a need for any medium of value exchange. It's a practically unfathomable situation. Utopian in the extreme. I guess it would be paradise.

[pcosmar]

No offense meant here but this is going to happen. IT IS HAPPENING. Look at some of the stuff that has happened. We were able to compute off 7 atoms, a couple test patients(paralyzed) have had chips put in there brain that allowed them to take steps. We have Hall Effect Ion Thrusters that are capable of bringing us to Mars and Back using only 72 lbs of Xenon Gas, We have had a neuroscientist grow a rats braincells on a computer chip(which produced actual brainwaves) Fusion has almost reached 100% efficiency(input is slightly less than output EDIT HERE; Actually its other way around Output is slightly less than Input sorry for typo) Japanese scientists created inorganic artificial muscles that are better than our own and someday may replace them. We can in laboratorys make detailed holograms, We have designs for trains that can go 4,000 mph using only 2% of the energy that a plane will take to go the same difference. We now know that all cancer can be cured by Gold Nanoparticles as they attach to cancer cells, which can then be bombard by radiowaves that hit gold specifically.

Scientific growth is exponential always has been.


EDIT HERE; I should add that these gold nanoparticles have been sucessful, but are prevented from hitting the market by criminals(Like our own FDA) that work for governments worldwide who wont let a terminally ill patient receive an experimental treatment because it may kill them.... what a joke

Easy statements. Got any Proof. Some of this is speculation, most is wishful thinking.
I know advances are being made, But come on.

We can in laboratorys make detailed holograms Hologram technology is cool, but hardly "detailed" and a long way from useful.

We have Hall Effect Ion Thrusters that are capable of bringing us to Mars and Back using only 72 lbs of Xenon Gas, These have been tested in space? I was unaware that this Mars trip had happened. Post some details.
BTW , I designed a Photon Drive ship over 30 years age, That technology works, but no ships are being built.

Fusion has almost reached 100% efficiency Again, post some fact. I would be interested in seeing how that was done.

We have designs for trains that can go 4,000 mph using only 2% of the energy that a plane will take to go the same difference. really. seems the shock wave would bother the neighbors

We now know that all cancer can be cured by Gold Nanoparticles as they attach to cancer cells, which can then be bombard by radiowaves that hit gold specifically. WE know this?:rolleyes:
Who is we>
I watched the first Mercury Launches and every launch up to the Shuttle.
I was disappointed that the X15 project was scraped in favor of the ballistic missiles. Very inefficient.
I was reading Asimov before you were born. Both his science and Sci-Fi.
I have hopes for the future and fears as well, but I do try to be realistic.

[Nate K]

may i ask what websites you frequent in your pursuit of staying on top of technology?

[William2012]

It'll be more than 50 years, but I believe the shift you're trying to contemplate is the point at which our infrastructure can produce so near infinitely that the notion of scarcity is eliminated. The suggestion that this can occur is still debatable, though I personally am sympathetic to the idea.

Without scarcity there is no economics. Without limits on supply nothing has any value. Yes, money would cease to exist because there would no longer be a need for any medium of value exchange. It's a practically unfathomable situation. Utopian in the extreme. I guess it would be paradise.

Precisely, eventually once technology has increased to a massive degree, I follows naturally that a person/nation/world must reinvent its Economic/Political beliefs due to the fact that scarcity would cease to exist.

Technically speaking, resource wise the world is abundant.It is only our technical knowledge and ability to get resources that is limited.

I will mention that I think it will happen in 50 years.
I say this because it appears that scientific advance occurs exponentially, and in Paradigm Shifts(ala Kuhn)

Think about it this way in the near future 20-30 years roughly. It is estimated that Quantum Computers be replacing silicon, but many believe we could network these computers to our own brain increasing our intellectual capablities by potentially hundred, or thousands of times.

If we could find a way to do this and increase our thinking capacity to such a degree, wouldn't it stand to reason that the technological understanding would increase to a degree unfathomable to us today?

[James Madison]

The way it OUGHT to work is that productivity means less work required to meet one's needs, resulting in more discretionary time to pursue other matters which may or may not require money. New needs may arise. We'll always need money.

TPTB seem to have concluded that we don't need PEOPLE, which is troubling.

So what are you going to be, an Eloi or a Morlock? :D

Totally agree. When the technology that the OP discusses has been implemented on a global scale, everyone on this board will either be eliminated by TPTB or denied access to such advanced technologies.

[William2012]

may i ask what websites you frequent in your pursuit of staying on top of technology?

Sure thing, This makes me happy

http://nanularity.com
http://www.nanotech-now.com/
http://www.nanotechnology.com/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.physorg.com/
http://www.wired.com/
http://technutnews.com/
http://www.genengnews.com/
http://www.biologynews.net/

A really cool picture http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0317_060317_dna_nebula.html Its a DNA like Nebula. Neato.

I am a self proclaimed Libertarian Transhumanist.
I think Nanotech, Cybertech, and Genetic Engineering is great, and that government should have nothing to do with it.

And if they take a useful technology like RFID/Genetic Engineering/etc try to use them as a tool of oppression I will snap.

[brandon]

Precisely, eventually once technology has increased to a massive degree, I follows naturally that a person/nation/world must reinvent its Economic/Political beliefs due to the fact that scarcity would cease to exist.


You don't think technology already has advances to a "massive degree"?

Scarcity will always exist. We don't have infinite resources, and no invention is ever going to give us infinite resources.



Technically speaking, resource wise the world is abundant.It is only our technical knowledge and ability to get resources that is limited.

I will mention that I think it will happen in 50 years.
I say this because it appears that scientific advance occurs exponentially, and in Paradigm Shifts(ala Kuhn)

Think about it this way in the near future 20-30 years roughly. It is estimated that Quantum Computers be replacing silicon, but many believe we could network these computers to our own brain increasing our intellectual capablities by potentially hundred, or thousands of times.

If we could find a way to do this and increase our thinking capacity to such a degree, wouldn't it stand to reason that the technological understanding would increase to a degree unfathomable to us today?

Of course technology is going to become more advanced, and new things will be invented that none of us could dream of today. It may happen soon, or it may happen in a long time. It really depends on how much government continues to steal from the people. But regardless, I think you should reread nickcoons post. He was dead on with his explanation.

[Nate K]

Sure thing, This makes me happy

http://nanularity.com
http://www.nanotech-now.com/
http://www.nanotechnology.com/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/
http://www.physorg.com/
http://www.wired.com/
http://technutnews.com/
http://www.genengnews.com/
http://www.biologynews.net/

A really cool picture http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0317_060317_dna_nebula.html Its a DNA like Nebula. Neato.

I am a self proclaimed Libertarian Transhumanist.
I think Nanotech, Cybertech, and Genetic Engineering is great, and that government should have nothing to do with it.

And if they take a useful technology like RFID/Genetic Engineering/etc try to use them as a tool of oppression I will snap.

wow, many thanks.

[William2012]

Easy statements. Got any Proof. Some of this is speculation, most is wishful thinking.
I know advances are being made, But come on.

We can in laboratorys make detailed holograms Hologram technology is cool, but hardly "detailed" and a long way from useful.

We have Hall Effect Ion Thrusters that are capable of bringing us to Mars and Back using only 72 lbs of Xenon Gas, These have been tested in space? I was unaware that this Mars trip had happened. Post some details.
BTW , I designed a Photon Drive ship over 30 years age, That technology works, but no ships are being built.

Fusion has almost reached 100% efficiency Again, post some fact. I would be interested in seeing how that was done.

We have designs for trains that can go 4,000 mph using only 2% of the energy that a plane will take to go the same difference. really. seems the shock wave would bother the neighbors

We now know that all cancer can be cured by Gold Nanoparticles as they attach to cancer cells, which can then be bombard by radiowaves that hit gold specifically. WE know this?:rolleyes:
Who is we>
I watched the first Mercury Launches and every launch up to the Shuttle.
I was disappointed that the X15 project was scraped in favor of the ballistic missiles. Very inefficient.
I was reading Asimov before you were born. Both his science and Sci-Fi.
I have hopes for the future and fears as well, but I do try to be realistic.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1893690/hologram_projection_at_military_trade_show/ Hologram,

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/xips/xips.html
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_003_C2003-583.html

Check this one out, there should be technical data on it. Its gonna go to Ceres(Kuiper Belt), I cannot wait for the info we can attain on this. Sorry I mistakenly misrepresented my data concerning the amount of Xenon gas expelled, it was actually 72 kilograms and that is just oneway to mars (so maybe 74-75 when it reaches in January)

http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/


Dern trying to find the fusion record, it was pretty high. less output than input of course else we would all hear about it. Once I find it I will post it.

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-04/trans-atlantic-maglev
There is also a better site with info on this, Yeah that would mess people up thus why its designed to be in a tube, like a bullet from a gun.

Concerning the cancer I posted some links of a various number of sites on my last post, there is probably numerous articles on numbers of them.

OOh by the way did you know a doctor found the CURE for aids.... by accident

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122602394113507555.html

Interesting, next couple years unless our government/corporations throw every HIV/AID's victim under the bus the same treatment that CURED this man of aids will cure many others.

EDIT HERE; I should note this wasn't the first cure for aids. I am going to attempt to find an old case study where a number of monkeys were cured in 1981, There was no further testing.

Potential BS claim (Only subjective evidence to support this claim; This means don't take it to seriously but keep an eye out in the future)
Also if you are interested in subjective evidence (on this claim I am not yet conviced) but there are a growing number of people who have claimed that consuming monotomic gold cured there cancer within 60 days (I have a hard time believing it,But a friend of mine had cancer and aquired some, again I have a hard time believing it. But I aint gonna tell someone I knew was dying that he was full of it.)

Again finally on the last statement, Totally subjective evidence(if it can be called that) but the number of people reporting the positive effects of monatomic gold are growing.

[James Madison]

[QUOTE=William2012;1860673]

Check this one out, there should be technical data on it. Its gonna go to Ceres(Kuiper Belt).[QUOTE]

I know this might be a little nit-picky but isn't Ceres an asteroid in the Astroid Belt? The Kuiper Belt would take years (maybe decades) to reach even with a high powered engine.

[pcosmar]

Well the hologram site wouldn't come up ( crashed my browser 3 times)
Ion drive has been known for years, I was looking at it in highschool. But we are still useing chemical rockets.
Though not Sci-Fi it is still in the experimental stage, after 50 years, it is not in use anywhere.

The train is Sci-Fi. An artist sketch of a proposed idea is NOT reality.

I have no doubt that some of these may become a reality, I also am hopeful. But it is tempered by the realities that I have known.
The Space program could be far ahead of where it now is. It has been stifled. It was and is co-opted by the military.
Medicine Could do more, However cures do not make corporations as much money as treatments.

There are other fuel sources, but the change over will take time.
I too am hopeful for the future, I just don't see it as the utopia that is often portrayed.

I have been watching for my whole life. What I see coming scares me more than encourages me.

[Anti Federalist]

Half-Timer

by Will Groves

Exclusive to STR

November 25, 2008

1.

A few years ago, I worked for a company in the semiconductor business. The company had a development cycle that typically lasted a year from the initial tests to the product release and an environment filled with pressure and energy. At the time, strong sales and rapidly increasing market share made the company incredibly profitable. The work paid well and I enjoyed the company of my coworkers. Then one day, I quit.

I had considered leaving for a long time. For months, I had repetitive work absent of challenge. Twice I had negotiated with my management for changes that they later reneged. The third time this happened, I had already ceased to care and resigned.

As a kid, I had developed a taste for frugal living, and with my savings, I didn’t view my unemployment as a serious problem. My parents had little skill at handling their finances and I decided early on not to struggle like them. My great-grandfather, an Iowan farmer whose company I enjoyed enormously, told me how: focus on quality and never take on debt.

He had died many years earlier, but his advice only seemed to get better the older I got. Naturally, then, I earned money much faster than I spent it. I rented my house and had no car payments or debt. I still owned and used much that I had bought over the years. I didn’t have much desire for things that become obsolete or thrown away, and my accumulation of stuff had slowed even as my income increased.

I felt fortunate to have the gift of life and I wanted to live it with as much quality as possible—quality stuff, and quality friendships, experiences, and thinking. I worked about 2,500 hours per year, which left me little time for the things I cared about more. I realized that working just a thousand hours per year would still cover my expenses, leave me with a financial buffer, and a lot more time to boot. Spending so much time working for money had to end.

2.

We live in a time of great production of goods, but also of wants. Few among us have taken Thoreau’s advice to “Simplify, simplify” to heart. Quality of life has become synonymous with consumption, almost in direct proportion. A little observation reveals a slightly more complex relationship because ownership has overhead expenses.

Stuff not only uses space, it requires maintenance, needs protection from unsavory individuals, and needs an inventory system. When it takes little effort to accomplish this, having stuff enhances our happiness. For every person, though, there comes a level of accumulation where the responsibilities of ownership become an outright burden.

Many people, if not most, become curators of their own landfills when they reach this level. The accumulation of stuff in garages visible in any neighborhood makes the law of diminishing returns visible. How many hours did these people work to buy all this stuff that they no longer want yet will not discard?

Money presents another set of issues. People who don’t have as much as they want oftentimes believe it will give them a feeling of security, or that it will afford them things they believe will give them happiness. I have heard these beliefs among people with very little in the bank and also from two very rich people. For those who have saved a substantial sum, they spend many hours focused on its growth, or at least its preservation—for them, the fear of not having money gets replaced with the fear of its loss.

To find balance and perspective on these issues, I start with this: increasing productivity has created the trend toward higher real wages for the past 200 years. Any one of us can stay alive and support a decent lifestyle working fewer hours than ever before. Real median wages have increased by a factor of roughly two since the late 1940s. Skilled people, of course, tend to do better than that.

Simply recognizing this offers opportunities.

3.

In the pursuit of a quality life, money provides but one means for getting tangible goods. I can work for money and exchange it for quality—in other words, get it indirectly. Barter provides another. Alternatively, I can get it directly by working on achieving quality myself. Economists obsess over the increasing division of labor, efficiency, and opportunity costs, not considering the inverse correlation between happiness and specialization.

Unimpeded curiosity leads us to learn to do what interests us, and since our lives have many dimensions, we naturally develop proficiency in several areas. Only modern schooling has obscured this fact. You may recognize that self-reliance and quality oftentimes go hand-in-hand. For instance, no grocery sells chicken noodle soup that tastes as good as what you can easily make at home. What you buy usually only approximates what you want, but you can tailor what you make exactly to your wishes. Time presents the main limitation.

If one works many hours each week as a specialist, then one has but little choice to depend on others for most needs. A man in this environment literally becomes a component of a machine that creates products by dividing a project into typological fragments. Specialists for each fragment solve the various problems, but they usually do not see the bigger picture and ultimately, this degrades the quality of the product. No great sense of accomplishment results from this sort of work, especially when the fungibility of one’s specialty means that many other people could have done the work just as well. Quality work results from unification, not fragmentation—we know that a collaboration of specialists can create great work only when each individual sees his place in the bigger picture and cares mightily about the outcome. Since one may view society as an aggregation of individuals, this working model that so often emphasizes fragmentation lends a clue to understanding our own society’s unbalanced character.

I have found one simple way out, though I did not see it for many years. I cannot produce electronics, cars, running shoes, and most of the high-technology products that I enjoy at home because their manufacture involves lots of machinery and cost. What I consume of these products, though, I can purchase with reasonably few hours of paid work. High-technology products don’t form the basis for my life, however. For me, the short-list of stuff in a quality life begins with some decidedly low-tech things: a garden, well-prepared meals, a decent home, and some beautifully-crafted objects. None of these require much money or many hours on the job.

We have the good fortune to live when high productivity has made living well possible with little work. Taking my example from earlier, a median-income person can consume as someone from the late 1940s by working about half-time today. This leaves much more time to create the quality stuff and experiences you want. It lets you focus on living as an individual, not a consumer. You don’t pay tax on things you make for yourself, your family, or your friends. Your income and sales taxes diminish, too, while the intangible benefits grow.

Last year when I learned that I would soon become a father, I decided to build a rocking chair for mother and baby to create sort of a physical milestone that would always mark the moment for me, and eventually become something passed on through the generations. I wanted this chair to result from my work, not the work of machines, and after making some sketches and selecting the rough boards, I planed the wood, sawed the parts, and cut every mortise and tenon by hand, taking the time to fit them perfectly and bring an object of considerable beauty into my home after one or two hundred hours of work. No one can purchase this sort of satisfaction. More time affords experiences like this.

In describing the process of good work, Robert Pirsig once wrote,

I think that when a concept of peace of mind is introduced and made central to the act of technical work, a fusion of classic and romantic quality can take place at a basic level within a practical working context. I’ve said that you can actually see this fusion in skilled mechanics and machinists of a certain sort, and you can see it in the work they do . . . They have patience, care and attentiveness to what they are doing, but more than this—there’s a kind of inner peace of mind that isn’t contrived but results from a kind of harmony with the work in which there’s no leader and no follower. The material and the craftsman’s thoughts change together in a progression of smooth, even changes until his mind is at rest at the exact instant the material is right.

Professionals have no monopoly on these experiences, either. Amateurs, in fact, often do the best work since they do not deal with the financial facts of running a business. James Krenov, the famous Swedish furniture maker, when asked about making a living once said, “The better work you do, the more chance that you'll starve.” Amateurs, unbothered with concerns like this, have the time to make everything right.

Making time for what you value should come first. Making enough money to live comfortably takes a small fraction of the 40-hour workweek that our culture assumes. By never examining that assumption, most people dedicate the best hours of their days to achieving someone else’s goals instead of their own.

My advice? Homebrew your own quality life, and work for others in your spare time. It works for me.

[William2012]

Well the hologram site wouldn't come up ( crashed my browser 3 times)
Ion drive has been known for years, I was looking at it in highschool. But we are still useing chemical rockets.
Though not Sci-Fi it is still in the experimental stage, after 50 years, it is not in use anywhere.

The train is Sci-Fi. An artist sketch of a proposed idea is NOT reality.

I have no doubt that some of these may become a reality, I also am hopeful. But it is tempered by the realities that I have known.
The Space program could be far ahead of where it now is. It has been stifled. It was and is co-opted by the military.
Medicine Could do more, However cures do not make corporations as much money as treatments.

There are other fuel sources, but the change over will take time.
I too am hopeful for the future, I just don't see it as the utopia that is often portrayed.

I have been watching for my whole life. What I see coming scares me more than encourages me.

I see where you are coming from. I take it you are a person who tries to stay in the now?

That sketch is of course just a sketch. The concept is amazing though. A maglev train in a vacuum. GENIUS.
Of course yeah, at our current level its just not doable ($50mil a mile)

It just bothers me aids has been cured. The mechanism is understood and its quite obvious its repeatable. Simply because people are no longer interested in the sciences this cure will fall into obscurity.

All the data thats been coming out about how Gold effects cancerous cells... and since no one knows the pharmaceutical companies will probably kill it.

ANother hologram japanese. wow I just found this one... this is the best I've seen yet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgm-_EiA62M