Lights in the Tunnel pt 1

Dr. J. chats with Martin Ford, author of The Lights in the Tunnel: Automation, Accelerating Technology and the Economy of the Future. Ford argues that automation and globalization will lead to further concentration of wealth and structural unemployment unless we take steps to support jobs and public income. Part 1 of 2.

Martin Ford and his publishers have decided to make the PDF version of his The Lights in the Tunnel free to download and free to share.

...

Complete entry

Posted by FrF  on  11/01  at  01:41 PM

For some reason I couldn't find the article by Michael Chorost at Wired Magazine. (Was it because they used the spelling "optigenetics"?) I finally found the piece via Chorost's homepage (http://www.michaelchorost.com/) - or at least I think it's the one James is talking about!

It's here:

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/10/mf_optigenetics/
"Algae and Light Help Injured Mice Walk Again"

Posted by Tom Craig  on  11/09  at  12:35 PM

Very provocative but one thing concerns me about the theses put forward. What do machines run on? Some sort of liquid fuel or electrons generated by the same? What happens when these become scarce or are considered so toxic to the environment that their use is limited or restricted (as they should be in light of the impending climate changes happening). Ford's example of agriculture would be possibly turned on its head in such a possible scenario, it would become more labor intensive and localized as the long distance agro biz web breaks down. He seems to be operating on a business as usual cancer-growth economic model which is more reminiscent of the 70's or 80's than of today. Robot need fuel master!!!

---

Add your comment here:

Name:

Email:

Location:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image below: