Book: 20261025 to 20261111, "A World Without Work" by Daniel Susskind
20261025 - Preface to the Paperback Edition
Introduction
20261026 - PART 1: THE CONTEXT
1. A History of Misplaced Anxiety, p13
Greece is among the least productive, and - contrary to what many might think - the one where people work the most hours a year. As Figure 1.4 shows, this is a general trend: in more productive countries, people tend to work fewer hours. p20
More people in Greece are doing bullshit jobs, which is more likely provided by the government.
2. The Age of Labor, p29
During the early stage of Industrial Revolution, skilled people(craftsman) got lower income, because their tasks were taken over by machines at low cost.
Between 1870 to 1970, skilled people got higher income, because a lot of tasks have to be done manually.
From 1970 to now, skilled people started to get lower income, again.
20261027 - 3. The Pragmatist Revolution, p45
AI is going to take over a lot of tasks, not jobs!
20261028 - 4. Underestimating Machines, p60
AI find new rules/patterns, something that we even cannot understand.
Just like the 37th move in the famous AlphaGo game.
This means AI is something that we cannot imagine or control.
How can we prepare for that?
20261102 - PART 11: THE THREAT
5. Task Encroachment, p77
20261103 - 6. Frictional Technological Unemployment, p98
despite all the hype about the "death of distance" and the "flat world", where you live matters more than ever. p106
I think Enrico Moretti got it wrong here. Only people with high income can live in rich area, not the other way around.
20261103 - 7. Structural Technological Unemployment, p112
John Stuart Mill: "demand for commodities is not demand for labor." p122
Labor is one of the components of economy. It's not special.
20261103 - 8. Technology and Inequality, p132
What he failed to point out, though, was that in a strong enough tide, those who find themselves without a boat - that is, those without any capital at all that is valued by the market - will simply drown. p147
Good point. That's why we need social welfare as safety net.
But safety net is a fixed number, and capital can go up to the sky.
20261108 - PART 111: THE RESPONSE
20261108 - 9. Education and Its Limits, p153
The top Stanford student ranked a measly 413th. "My God," cried Thrun on seeing this, "for every great Stanford student, there's 412 amazingly great, even better students in the world." p160
This is the reason that China did so well so far in AI competition. Talent is critical.
But soon, these potential talent will be trivial factor. Assets will beat talent with hands down.
20261109 - 10. The Big State, p169
Payments like this create a huge economic incentive for recipients to kick others out of the group in order to secure a bigger slice of the income for themselves. p184
This is real threat. How can we prevent that?
The UBI "goes against a widely accepted notion of justice: it is unfair for able-bodied people to live off the labor of others. Most workers world, correctly in my opinion, see the proposal as a recipe for exploitation of the industrious by the lazy." p187
There is no way to judge whether someone is "able-bodied people". If the people who work cannot get UBI, then they actually get punishment for working.
CBI(conditional basic income) is not going to work.
"It's not just that we don't trust people who are not like us. In diverse communities, we don't trust people who do look like us." p188
Deep down, maybe we should not trust others too much, unless it's proved that they are trustworthy.
In Asian countries, there are much less diversity of race, which make people trust each other more. Is that really a good thing?
Work only has two purposes: to make the economic pie bigger, and to make sure that everyone gets a slice of the pie. p192
20261110 - 11. Big Tech, p197
20261111 - 12. Meaning and Purpose, p215
He(Aristotle) believed that meaning could only come through leisure, and that the only purpose of work is to pay for leisure time: "We work in order to enjoy leisure, just as we make war in order to enjoy peace." p221
I think it's decided by the people around us. If the society think it's OK, then it's OK. Just like the retirees. No one complain about their leisure time even if they are still capable of working.
The skills needed to flourish in that future world will be very different from those in demand today. p226
What is in demand today? Moral virtues, such as honesty and kindness, curiosity, diligence, etc. p227
These are useful both in work and in life. Does this mean that we need to come back to hunting and gathering stage and just let our children play and learn?
We can only find meaning in what we actually do - and freed up to spend our lives differently, we will find meaning elsewhere instead. p232
Brain is our largest sexual organ. Meaning is something also come from our mind. For example, we can find meaning from football match, or computer game, or art, or music.
I guess one of the major anchor is comparison. If we live a "better" life compare to others, then our lives are meaningful. At least it will be easier to convince ourselves to stay happy.
In a world with less work, few societies will be able to allow those without a job to fill all their time with idleness, play, or unpaid work as they alone see fit. This is because, as noted earlier, any society that allows that is likely to fall apart. p232
Good question, but there is no answer yet.
There is no meaning in life. Meaning is our imagination.
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