So what is your proposal for the millions of people who do not have the intellectual capacity to "be like Edison" and whose physical labor is being rendered obsolete by technological advances?
I doubt there are that many people who are incapable of being more like Edison. Whether I am right or wrong doesn't change the truth of your prediction -- the contributions many are offering now will have a value of zero in the near future.
I would say those people really have only two choices: find another way to contribute or fail to contribute. We will need less physical labor. We will need more people solving problems. I believe more of us can and will step up to the challenge of developing new solutions and advancing America's productivity.