Because someone has to clean the toilets
While surfing my Roku for something interesting to watch, I recently came across a 2017 movie called Downsizing. It tells the story of a couple who decide to undertake a newly invented procedure to shrink their bodies so they can start a new life in an experimental Utopian-style community. The participants in this miniature world give up all of their worldly possessions in exchange for a luxurious lifestyle; far better than what they had previously been able to afford in their full-size bodies. Given their diminutive stature, their carbon footprint and level of consumption is a fraction of their previous existence. Their investment goes a long way, and includes no longer having to work, their own personal servants and other amenities.
Interestingly enough, many years ago, while in high school, I read a variant of this theme titled The Micronauts, by Gordon Williams. Their world was a more desperate situation, however, the theme was basically the same - clone the population 32 times smaller than life size. It was a lot less shiny and perfect. Instead of a well polished and protected environment, Arcadia as they called it, was built in the walled garden of a laboratory.They were creating a self-sustaining place to live which required gardening, hunting for bugs (they are high in protein), and building their own miniature living spaces. In the garden, they also had to contend with the other residents, like carnivorous insects, foxes and snakes. And, like many Utopian stories, they had to deal with each other.
Here is where the two different stories align. In both Downsizing and The Micronauts, while food and material resources were presumed to be abundant at the smaller scale, human resources were not. Nor were the human resources "equal" in these supposed Utopias. Even in worlds where socialistic or even communistic principles could have and possibly should have worked well, they failed miserably.This happened for a few key reasons. First, the creators of each world added a class system to regulate and control the rights and privileges based on their previous status in the full size world, even though how they had originally obtained that status had no merit in the new world. Second, while resources were plentiful, they were not evenly distributed due the class system. Lastly, someone had to clean the toilets, or work the fields, or any of the other myriad of tasks requiring manual labor.
As we are now in the transhuman age, it is my hope that we can finally learn from the Utopian stories of the past and recognize a few things. AI, robotics, longevity, augmentation, and all of the other technological and societal changes we are embracing still require the human touch. We must look for opportunities to leverage advancements in automation and AI to increase resource yields and provide efficient resource utilization to benefit humankind. We must also remember there is a cost associated with the development and creation of these solutions that has to be compensated to the creators. It is easy to view these individuals, team and companies as 'overnight' success stories while ignoring that 'overnight' may have taken a decade or more of hard work to achieve.
As our roles in this new world shift, we need to keep in mind that a true Utopia requires everyone participate equally. Does that mean we wipe the slate clean, and like in the game Monopoly, everyone starts with the same amount of resources and it is up to them to achieve success? Each person is provided a 3D printed, modular home, with groceries delivered from a local automated farm, power coming from by solar and wind, cleaning services (no toilet issues here) by robots, travel by shared electric vehicles, etc., etc. Once we are all in our comfort zone, will there be anything to drive the next generation of innovation? Can humanity exist without hierarchy and struggle to serve as catalysts for change and evolution? Ironically, Utopia doesn't look good on paper any more than it probably will in reality. As a species we need to balance our dependence on automation with our need for exertion. "No pain, no gain" is an oft used euphemism and taken to extremes can lead to some of humanity's biggest tragedies. Natural struggle, however, can lead to our biggest accomplishments. Machines can help us achieve wonders we have only imagined as long as we work with them and not for them; or else, one day we might find ourselves cleaning their toilets.
Interestingly enough, many years ago, while in high school, I read a variant of this theme titled The Micronauts, by Gordon Williams. Their world was a more desperate situation, however, the theme was basically the same - clone the population 32 times smaller than life size. It was a lot less shiny and perfect. Instead of a well polished and protected environment, Arcadia as they called it, was built in the walled garden of a laboratory.They were creating a self-sustaining place to live which required gardening, hunting for bugs (they are high in protein), and building their own miniature living spaces. In the garden, they also had to contend with the other residents, like carnivorous insects, foxes and snakes. And, like many Utopian stories, they had to deal with each other.
Here is where the two different stories align. In both Downsizing and The Micronauts, while food and material resources were presumed to be abundant at the smaller scale, human resources were not. Nor were the human resources "equal" in these supposed Utopias. Even in worlds where socialistic or even communistic principles could have and possibly should have worked well, they failed miserably.This happened for a few key reasons. First, the creators of each world added a class system to regulate and control the rights and privileges based on their previous status in the full size world, even though how they had originally obtained that status had no merit in the new world. Second, while resources were plentiful, they were not evenly distributed due the class system. Lastly, someone had to clean the toilets, or work the fields, or any of the other myriad of tasks requiring manual labor.
As we are now in the transhuman age, it is my hope that we can finally learn from the Utopian stories of the past and recognize a few things. AI, robotics, longevity, augmentation, and all of the other technological and societal changes we are embracing still require the human touch. We must look for opportunities to leverage advancements in automation and AI to increase resource yields and provide efficient resource utilization to benefit humankind. We must also remember there is a cost associated with the development and creation of these solutions that has to be compensated to the creators. It is easy to view these individuals, team and companies as 'overnight' success stories while ignoring that 'overnight' may have taken a decade or more of hard work to achieve.
As our roles in this new world shift, we need to keep in mind that a true Utopia requires everyone participate equally. Does that mean we wipe the slate clean, and like in the game Monopoly, everyone starts with the same amount of resources and it is up to them to achieve success? Each person is provided a 3D printed, modular home, with groceries delivered from a local automated farm, power coming from by solar and wind, cleaning services (no toilet issues here) by robots, travel by shared electric vehicles, etc., etc. Once we are all in our comfort zone, will there be anything to drive the next generation of innovation? Can humanity exist without hierarchy and struggle to serve as catalysts for change and evolution? Ironically, Utopia doesn't look good on paper any more than it probably will in reality. As a species we need to balance our dependence on automation with our need for exertion. "No pain, no gain" is an oft used euphemism and taken to extremes can lead to some of humanity's biggest tragedies. Natural struggle, however, can lead to our biggest accomplishments. Machines can help us achieve wonders we have only imagined as long as we work with them and not for them; or else, one day we might find ourselves cleaning their toilets.
Comments
Post a Comment