Quote from: giantdragon on February 26, 2014, 04:18:11 PM

@Biomech, tragedy of the commons will occur in capitalist (free-market) economies when tech unemployment will hit them. Consumer demand is the resource that will be depleted!

Which won't happen in socialist communities because they will eat themselves first. Long before technological unemployment is actually a concept, let alone a problem.

The truth that has been in our faces since the first proto-human figured out a tool is that when we reduce labor in one area, it opens up new areas.

The other truth, sadly, is that there are always a bunch of whining bastards who proclaim the end of the world whenever the paradigm shifts.

Look at the example you're typing on. It put a lot of professions out of business. Yet it CREATED hundreds more. Possibly thousands, given the flexibility of the Personal Computer.

We are not going to be outcompeted by robots. We will adapt. We always have, and we always will. I am a strong believer in the abilities and potential of the human race. We are a dangerous, misguided, fucked up, creative, and wonderful species who will dominate everything we touch, learning along the way, until we either perish utterly or get off this rock. (which will also be a likely scenario as automation pushes further into our lives.)

Technologically speaking, we should have already colonized near space and be well on our way to the stars. All we lack is the will, and with both automation and an unrestricted breeding cycle, the will will come.