Quote from: grondilu on September 17, 2012, 11:03:03 PM

Quote from: kokojie on September 17, 2012, 10:50:55 PM

No it probably wouldn't be free, who determines how much "free" you get versus me? there will most definitely still be currency. In current society, robots(automated machines) already produce significant portion of wealth, why not start now? you think the switch would happen suddenly?

Ah I'm getting confused. This subject is really tough, honestly. No irony here.

On one hand I told you that there is no point to start now, since robot do not currently do all the work.

On the other hand I'm going to tell you that it's already started. Robot do indeed do a lot of work, and some people do receive money doing nothing thanks to that. I do. I own shares and I get money by doing nothing. So the system you are advocating has already begun.

The key point, imho, is whether or not robots create not just wealth, but also copies of themselves as well. In that case, everybody can own robots, and there is no point having a system of shares that would be unevenly distributed. But then again in that case price of things would really be almost zero. Because everybody could create whatever he needs when he needs it. So there would be no point in buying something. Hence a price of zero for everything.

Honestly I'm not sure anyone here gets how complicated this is.

You're missing out on one very important point: Resources are not infinite.

Sure, robots could conceivably be built that could create anything. But the materials to build those robots have to come from somewhere. You might say that the materials to build those robots come from mines operated by robots, but those mines can't last forever.

Land is a finite resource. Land cannot be free. Gold cannot be free, as it is a finite resource. Etc, etc.

Basically, nothing can be free, as nothing is an infinite resource.