RE: Universal basic income in the future
June 8, 2017 at 10:42 am
(This post was last modified: June 8, 2017 at 10:56 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Here's an example of an actual automation problem I have, to take it out of the realm of hypotheticals. I;d like for people to ponder just what sort of toy would be required to do this.
I need a machine that can moniter and diagnose the most common disorders and diseases in tilapia or varying size, life stage, and patterns. That can also moniter water quality and flow, diagnosing blockages both current and potential. I need a machine that can plant, dress, and clean seedlings with the finesse of human fingers to be set in-state in a gravel bed..which must, itself, be maintained. I need a machine capable of diagnosing common (and rare) plant disorders, diseases, and a range of pests common to greenhouse environment..that can then take appropriate action to reduce my loss from those pests. I need a machine capable of monitering both the greenhouse environment and the greenhouse itself, making necessarry alterations and repairs as they crop up. I need a machine that can moniter the weather and coordinate -all- of the previous bits with that data. I need a machine that can move around that system, recognizing different stages of grwoth in the crop and picking those mature blocks with less waste than an experienced human eye and hand and mind at a lesser cost. I need a machine that can interact with customers, giving on-site tours and positively selling the product -and- the method...-and- the model.
I need all of this..for a space just 30x60 feet long.....out of a much larger operation..the rest of which has absolutely no resemblance to that 30x60- space. I need a machine that does all that..for -each- of those 30x60 spaces...which might not even be in the same place, cater to the same customers, sell the same product, or use the same cultural methods.
I;ve left out a mountain of minutae which must also be accounted for by that machine - which I take for granted..which even the most unskilled laborer takes for granted. I already employ a ton of automation to achieve many of those tasks...I;m not completely repulsed by the idea nor do I think it would be patently impossible.....I only doubt that it would be feasible.
Particularly, when Juan's human labor is available to me, as is my own. I could already buy automation..I could buy a tractor - it wouldn;t work my greenhouse but it could work a field of corn. I could attach a plow to a draft horse. That's a legitimite thing here and is making one grower alot of money while his tractored up neighbors are going out of business....... largely on the backs of their tractor payments. I simply have no need for it..it would be a pointless (and disastrous) expenditure. I do, however, have need of Juan.
@Steel, or the quality of what work that remains..hehehe.
I want to add that I;m openly and explicitly biased. I really do think that, in future, alot more people will be employed in ag, and necessarrily so, than there are now. This last 60 years will have been a blip in a much larger trend. It;s perfectly okay to discount my wishes and dreams of a future full of farms and farmers as just a person dreaming about the future success of their own model -which may never materialize.
Maybe we'll all be eating blocks of algae grown in labs by simple robots that already exist. It could happen. I'll miss the okra...and the watermelons, though.
I need a machine that can moniter and diagnose the most common disorders and diseases in tilapia or varying size, life stage, and patterns. That can also moniter water quality and flow, diagnosing blockages both current and potential. I need a machine that can plant, dress, and clean seedlings with the finesse of human fingers to be set in-state in a gravel bed..which must, itself, be maintained. I need a machine capable of diagnosing common (and rare) plant disorders, diseases, and a range of pests common to greenhouse environment..that can then take appropriate action to reduce my loss from those pests. I need a machine capable of monitering both the greenhouse environment and the greenhouse itself, making necessarry alterations and repairs as they crop up. I need a machine that can moniter the weather and coordinate -all- of the previous bits with that data. I need a machine that can move around that system, recognizing different stages of grwoth in the crop and picking those mature blocks with less waste than an experienced human eye and hand and mind at a lesser cost. I need a machine that can interact with customers, giving on-site tours and positively selling the product -and- the method...-and- the model.
I need all of this..for a space just 30x60 feet long.....out of a much larger operation..the rest of which has absolutely no resemblance to that 30x60- space. I need a machine that does all that..for -each- of those 30x60 spaces...which might not even be in the same place, cater to the same customers, sell the same product, or use the same cultural methods.
I;ve left out a mountain of minutae which must also be accounted for by that machine - which I take for granted..which even the most unskilled laborer takes for granted. I already employ a ton of automation to achieve many of those tasks...I;m not completely repulsed by the idea nor do I think it would be patently impossible.....I only doubt that it would be feasible.
Particularly, when Juan's human labor is available to me, as is my own. I could already buy automation..I could buy a tractor - it wouldn;t work my greenhouse but it could work a field of corn. I could attach a plow to a draft horse. That's a legitimite thing here and is making one grower alot of money while his tractored up neighbors are going out of business....... largely on the backs of their tractor payments. I simply have no need for it..it would be a pointless (and disastrous) expenditure. I do, however, have need of Juan.
@Steel, or the quality of what work that remains..hehehe.
I want to add that I;m openly and explicitly biased. I really do think that, in future, alot more people will be employed in ag, and necessarrily so, than there are now. This last 60 years will have been a blip in a much larger trend. It;s perfectly okay to discount my wishes and dreams of a future full of farms and farmers as just a person dreaming about the future success of their own model -which may never materialize.
Maybe we'll all be eating blocks of algae grown in labs by simple robots that already exist. It could happen. I'll miss the okra...and the watermelons, though.
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