Picture a world where everything required for basic comfortable living is so abundant that it's free. Free food, shelter, energy, health care, transportation, entertainment, etc.
In this world, money is not required to live or even to have some fun. Then what is the purpose of carrying money?
Some things will still be scarce, but they won't be necessities.
Will this world occur? How will we behave in such a place?
Simply not possible. Assume for a moment that there was infinite food, shelter, energy, health care, transportation, and entertainment.
Now, in such a world where money is not needed, what is the incentive of working? We start partying all day. Now, who cooks the food? Builds the shelter? Take care of the sick? Maintain power plants? Create entertaining music, shows, and games? No one, so the stuff is not unlimited.
Now, we could create armies of AI robots to do our construction work and our entertainment and such. Then they would get mad, start their own country, maybe call it '01' and then we fight and they turn us into batteries and hook us up to a big computer simulation of the late 90s, maybe even call it something like 'the Matrix'.
Ok, that last paragraph was off topic, but this is the same problem with any 'utopian' society. Without the possibility of inequality through different amounts of effort, there is no motivation to do anything.
Without the possibility of inequality through different amounts of effort, there is no motivation to do anything.
Sure there is.
It's called "self-actualization", and sits at the top of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Would some people start partying all day? Damn straight. Others would sit down and do some serious thinking and writing, others would work on creating fantastic pieces of art, architecture, or what have you, and yes virginia, some people would choose to cook.
What, after all, is the motivation to post on Slashdot? It's certainly not advancing your career or your knowledge. Hell, you're lucky if *reading* Slashdot advances your knowledge, but we do it anyway.
Now I'll admit that even while some people might still be happy to take care of the sick and maintain power-plants, the numbers would probably be far fewer, but that's where the nanotech and robotics come into play.
Everything for Free (Score:1)
In this world, money is not required to live or even to have some fun. Then what is the purpose of carrying money?
Some things will still be scarce, but they won't be necessities.
Will this world occur? How will we behave in such a place?
Re:Everything for Free (Score:2)
Now, in such a world where money is not needed, what is the incentive of working? We start partying all day. Now, who cooks the food? Builds the shelter? Take care of the sick? Maintain power plants? Create entertaining music, shows, and games? No one, so the stuff is not unlimited.
Now, we could create armies of AI robots to do our construction work and our entertainment and such. Then they would get mad, start their own country, maybe call it '01' and then we fight and they turn us into batteries and hook us up to a big computer simulation of the late 90s, maybe even call it something like 'the Matrix'.
Ok, that last paragraph was off topic, but this is the same problem with any 'utopian' society. Without the possibility of inequality through different amounts of effort, there is no motivation to do anything.
Re:Everything for Free (Score:3, Insightful)
Sure there is.
It's called "self-actualization", and sits at the top of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
Would some people start partying all day? Damn straight. Others would sit down and do some serious thinking and writing, others would work on creating fantastic pieces of art, architecture, or what have you, and yes virginia, some people would choose to cook.
What, after all, is the motivation to post on Slashdot? It's certainly not advancing your career or your knowledge. Hell, you're lucky if *reading* Slashdot advances your knowledge, but we do it anyway.
Now I'll admit that even while some people might still be happy to take care of the sick and maintain power-plants, the numbers would probably be far fewer, but that's where the nanotech and robotics come into play.