There is a great deal of discussion of what people will do if employees are replaced by machines. This centers both on the need for financial sustenance along with meaning. After all, how will people finding meaning and purpose in life if all the jobs are gone.
Unfortunately, this means we are operating under two presumptions.
The first is that we will see catastrophic job loss due to technological advancement. It is a topic that is naturally debated. For the sake of this article, we will go with this line of thinking.
A second presumption is that people derive meaning in their life from the work they do. Here is where we are going to focus our attention.
Image generated using Ideogram
Web 3.0: Replacing The Labor Economy
We touched upon the concept of the labor economy being disrupted.
For the vast majority of us, our financial livelihood depends upon our ability to exchange our labor for money. This is the entire premise of our working lives. Even those who find themselves supplemented by investments tend to have the majority of their incomes tied to the labor swap mechanism.
The presumption that people derive meaning from this is a stretch to me. While there are many who are driven by passion for their work, most find it drudgery. It is a number of years since I looked this up but, at that time, the most recent data said 80% of Americans despised their jobs.
This does not sound like a meaning or purpose driven career.
Of course, this makes sense. Look at all the crap jobs that are out there. We have mind-numbingly boring office work. Fast food sucks. Custodial services is awful.
Then we add in the fact that dealing with the general public in any regard is usually a nightmare due to selfishness, entitlement, and arrogance.
Hence, the idea that people get purpose out of these jobs is misguided in my opinion. Naturally, that does not mean people working in those fields do not have self-worth, are not driven, and lack meaning. I met many who were just that. My argument is, however, they did not get the meaning from the work.
From this perspective, my conclusion is we are dealing with a non-issue. People will have no less meaning in a world where they do not swap their labor for income since the overwhelming majority are not getting it from there anyway.
This means Web 3.0 has the potential to offer so much more.
Meaning In A Web 3.0 World
It is almost a meme today.
People look at those who spend their days playing video games as wasting their lives. The joke is they need to move out of the basement and get on with it.
A flipside to this is we do have professional gamers who earn a strong living from gaming. Going even further, we know the gaming industry earns billions, employing millions of people. How come they are able to derive "meaning" while the gamers (the end user) is not?
It seems that we are conditioned to believe that, unless we are paid for it (i.e. money for labor), it has little value. Expanding upon this, we can conclude the idea is no pay, no meaning.
A potential future without jobs done by humans presents as much of a psychological challenge as financial. It might be easier to solve the monetary problem as compared to the mental one.
Here is where I think Web 3.0 can solve a couple problems.
As we covered on a number of occasions, Web 3.0 changes the game because it alters the ownership structure. Those who understand this concept realize that the accumulation of assets is fundamental. Too many focus upon income instead of net worth.
For some reason, we do not take the same outlook on the "retired" as we do the unemployed. Consider the 45 year old who lives off income derived from assets. Is this person lazy if he or she is lounging around all day? What is the meaning or purpose for this person?
Obviously, we are dealing with a highly personal question that can only be answered by each individual. That said, it is all part of the psychology we adopted as a society.
In keeping with this, people can still attain the congruence within themselves (and society in general) with Web 3.0. If one is successful at asset accumulation, then living off the income generated is mentally acceptable.
One is also free to find his or her meaning.
This actually could come from within the Web 3.0 realm.
For the moment, a lot can be derived by being a part of the building process. There is a lot of work to do within this realm. We are still in the early days of this transition. Many can not only stake their financial claim, but also their purpose is so driven.
Hopefully, we can see how this psychological transition can be made. I surmise that we would have significant higher number of people with meaning with a Web 3.0 world as compared to what we are presently dealing with. The time for income does not work overall. We know the majority suffer in a lot of ways.
Here is a different opportunity. We will see how it all unfolds.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Wow Taskmaster You have touched on a very important topic to me.. I strongly believe in the fact that there's a positive side to machines replacing jobs.
You nailed the topic: meaning and purpose in life...
The more time we have in our hands which is not for daily bread, the more our minds get closer to thinking about the true purpose of life...
Here's my description of the purpose of life: Life is an opportunity or chance to experience the universe and everything around us... The chance to be alive means you get to be aware of everything... This is a gift we will cherish more when we're not worried about daily bread. I hope that there's actually systems set to make sure our basic logistics is catered for when machines replace human jobs
Over a decade living without the concept of paycheck and it can be hard to imagine, how much time there is to have adventures and learn new things. Instead numbers on a datasheet, the real deal is the resources and networks. Being "pseudoymous" in real life is getting increasingly more challenging, with KYC, digi€, 2fa and such surveillance tools embedded everywhere, so will see if the redacted get total control in the near future.
I agree with the opinion expressed in the text. Indeed, it's fascinating how society often underestimates the value of certain activities, such as playing video games, while others are widely recognized and esteemed.
It's true that there's a widespread perception that paid work is the only one that holds meaning and value. However, I believe that this limited mindset can hinder us from recognizing other forms of contribution and fulfillment.
For me, the notion that an activity's worth is directly tied to the payment it receives is quite restrictive. Instead, I prefer to think in terms of impact and purpose. If an activity brings personal satisfaction, contributes to the well-being of others, or promotes societal progress, then it certainly holds value, regardless of whether it's paid or not.
Moreover, the discussion about the transition to Web 3.0 and the paradigm shift regarding asset accumulation is highly relevant. I believe we're witnessing a fundamental transformation in how we understand work, income, and meaning. Rather than solely focusing on wage labor, we should consider other ways of generating wealth and finding personal fulfillment.
In summary, I agree that society tends to prioritize paid work over other forms of activity. However, I believe it's time to broaden our perspective and recognize the intrinsic value of all activities that contribute to individual and collective well-being.
Your comment on Video Games is right, once it was considered as waste of time but now it is monetised economy in many different ways.
Artificial Intelligence will going to push humans towards new economies.
Congratulations @taskmaster4450! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 18000 comments.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
I think web 3.0 can offer a well rounded platform for both meaning and purpose of work outside of the traditional work environment, since there is more freedom to try out different things, a broad category of options to work with.
It's really nice that you brought up professional gamers. I think these, along with sports athletes I think are pretty safe from AI and robotics. While robotic sports can be popular in the future, I think humans competing will still be popular. Maybe they can augment robotic parts to increase their mobility and speed. Maybe we can invent more sports as well.
Hello taskmaster4450!
It's nice to let you know that your article won 🥇 place.
Your post is among the best articles voted 7 days ago by the @hive-lu | King Lucoin Curator by keithtaylor
You and your curator receive 0.2515 Lu (Lucoin) investment token and a 9.25% share of the reward from Daily Report 297. Additionally, you can also receive a unique LUGOLD token for taking 1st place. All you need to do is reblog this report of the day with your winnings.
Buy Lu on the Hive-Engine exchange | World of Lu created by @szejq
STOPor to resume write a wordSTART