This Dystopia Is Completely Ridiculous (opens in new tab)

(techcrunch.com)

68 pointsportal_narlish9y ago17 comments

17 comments

12 comments · 5 top-level

peteretep9y ago· 4 in thread

There's never been a better time to be rich, white, and male with a 1st world passport!

fvdessen9y ago

There's never been a better time to be a poor black female with a 1st world passport either

Aeolun9y ago

It's just that the imbalance between how good it is to be either is so big.

1 more reply

ItendToDisagree9y ago

How many poor black females do you know with the income and need/interest to get a passport? Honestly curious.

1 more reply

greenhatman9y ago

It's also looking pretty good for the rest of the world, compared to the past.

https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ourwor...

bobsgame9y ago· 3 in thread

I really enjoyed this article! I believe we should produce mass amounts of cheap 3D printed housing that anyone can afford with a part time minimum wage job, and then fill in the labor gaps with general purpose artificial intelligence and robotics. Then people can chill out and ignore the more dystopian aspects of society and instead enjoy this wonderful resource of infinite education and entertainment we've created. I think the answer lies in making a good enough standard of living the default for everyone and then there will be less negativity in the world.

Animats9y ago

It's not that expensive to build massive amounts of housing that anyone can afford. But it looks like this:

US version: [1] USSR version: [2] French version: [3]

"You can't stack poor people who drink."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.htm...

bobsgame9y ago

The problem I see with these kinds of housing developments is that you're taking stressed out people with problems and sticking them in small boxes very close together. That's going to compound social stress and amplify bad influences. Something like 3D printed housing seems better to me because you could give each person an entire house to themselves and give them enough of their own territory to where they would feel secure and comfortable.

indigochill9y ago

Having seen people who seriously campaigned against installing wifi in a community library because they feared it was going to give them cancer, I think the same people you're trying to help will reject such an automated infrastructure out of fear of technology they don't understand. Although I'll eat those words when I see mass-market self-driving cars (I think people will campaign against those too because there's nobody to blame/sue when a self-driven car accidentally kills a bunch of people).

Engineering a better future is one thing. Selling it to the public is a whole different ball game. Which is sort of the other side of this article. People have the technology for better living (like strong end-to-end encryption) and they're scared of it.

sprafa9y ago

Let's not forget that the transition between the worst days in the 19th century to the best days of the 20th Century we had an enormous amount of war.

Animats9y ago

That's a sad read. But he's not wrong.

Nobody knows how to organize a society to effectively use the technology we have.

arjie9y ago

Haha, if you read this as entertainment it's great. If you read this seriously, it's hopelessly shrill. Life has never been as good before.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

17 comments

12 comments · 5 top-level

peteretep9y ago· 4 in thread

There's never been a better time to be rich, white, and male with a 1st world passport!

fvdessen9y ago

There's never been a better time to be a poor black female with a 1st world passport either

Aeolun9y ago

It's just that the imbalance between how good it is to be either is so big.

1 more reply

ItendToDisagree9y ago

How many poor black females do you know with the income and need/interest to get a passport? Honestly curious.

1 more reply

greenhatman9y ago

It's also looking pretty good for the rest of the world, compared to the past.

https://ourworldindata.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ourwor...

bobsgame9y ago· 3 in thread

Animats9y ago

It's not that expensive to build massive amounts of housing that anyone can afford. But it looks like this:

US version: [1] USSR version: [2] French version: [3]

"You can't stack poor people who drink."

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Taylor_Homes

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchyovka

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/15/magazine/15elections.t.htm...

bobsgame9y ago

indigochill9y ago

sprafa9y ago

Let's not forget that the transition between the worst days in the 19th century to the best days of the 20th Century we had an enormous amount of war.

Animats9y ago

That's a sad read. But he's not wrong.

Nobody knows how to organize a society to effectively use the technology we have.

arjie9y ago

Haha, if you read this as entertainment it's great. If you read this seriously, it's hopelessly shrill. Life has never been as good before.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse