Topic: What would education be like in a society where work was optional? (Read 460 times)

If you look at the most richest persons on this planet they earned money without working so working is not really important to earn,all they need is skill and capital to generate more money.But for a regular human it is indeed to survive on this planet and its getting harder day by day due to the inflation.

Earning a living is essential right now. Outside of the few who are so independently wealthy that other people earn their living for them, everybody has to earn a living some how.

In China, there are wealthy who are so rich that servants/slaves feed them and wipe their behind for them. In the past, some of them would close their hands (make a fist) for such a long time that their fingernails grew right through thei hands. This was a sign of great wealth in China in times past.

But, even then, most of these wealthy people had to breathe for themselves. So they worked for a living, even if it was only breathing.

If we want to get this far with all of society, robots will have to become advanced far beyon what they are today. And they will have to be built in ways that they will never want to rebel.

Oh, really? Work is optional? It may depend on your understanding of the word, but even investing is work. Being a stock trader is work, renting out apartments in a villa your parents left you is work. How many people can really say that work is optional? 1% of the population? Probably even less than that. Only people who have millions on their bank accounts, who won the lottery, got inheritance or found gold buried in their back yards.
Even if you have a small inheritance that will allow you to pay your bills for another 30 years you cannot say that work is optional. You're going to need more to raise children, make sure they have some property when you're gone, get proper education.

Work is optional but I think if you do not have something you can not always do something for the family How you can easily use the money you earn from your family money from your family may not be the same. For this reason  without having to depend on others  you have to build yourself up in the information technology age.

Statement on the work being optional today is very controversial. If you do not have a job you have no money for a living but at the same time if your family has enough money you can choose not to work so everything is very conventional.

Work was already optional today, it depends on the person. He study or not still he will be pushed to work to earn money and to provide everything that he need. Education was very important now in this world because it will be your key to easily get job and to be hired in one company where you want to work.

I think, even though we are thinking the possibilities for this to happen, at the end of the day, we can see that work is still what primarily we need to survive the daily life. Education shouldn't look like it was into pushing evryone to just work. Creativity can be used in every way and one of it is in our work. But having majority of people to have no work, I think would have a big effect to economy of a certain place.

You are living in it. No one forces you to work, but you have to eat at the very least right? Well nothing is stopping you from going out into the forest and living like a cave man. Of course that is in itself work. What you are saying is either one of 2 things. Either you are suggesting a future where people are ENTITLED to the products and services of society while contributing nothing to it, or you are suggesting a future without personal responsibility. Thinking you are entitled to the products of society is pretty presumptuous. Thinking humans will ever be able to live without responsibility is the thing of fairy tails, no matter how much AI and how many super advanced androids you throw at it. Of course the one exception to this is if humans all live in one big prison... so be careful what you wish for... and program AI to do.

People needs to educate all the time. We need to change education methods but education and development are the engines of humans.

Why would the existence of AI make working for a living inessential? It's not like the AIs will suddenly be feeding us while we sit on our asses all day. On the contrary, the existence of AI will make people want to work even more because people will be threatened AIs will take their jobs away from them. Same with education. Many students might be encouraged to study about artificial intelligence more if self-aware AI started existing.

In fact, man is created to create.Many people just don't develop their talent.(although everyone has it).If the work,as we understand it, will be really optional then naturally the number of creative people will increase.I don’t think that education should somehow adapt to artificial intelligence. The more artificial intelligence is introduced into everyday life, the less there will be working professions. And this means that every person will have to stimulate himself to get higher education.

I agree, actually. Robots can`t keep robots working, there shall be maintenance people. Same with the art, machines can only imitate but are unable of producing their own works or art (at the moment).
Besides, would the world ever be completely robotized? I bet it won`t be easy to afford fully automatized factory, may be even not every country will be able to purchase / build it and keep operational.

I think that nothing will change. Labor is always needed. Before the world where all are served only by robots, we are still very far away. And nevertheless, even in this case, people will be needed to service the robots, that is, to repair and control their work.
As for creativity, I agree. In all time it was the most valuable type of human activity. I think, so will be in the future.

I think that the education in the society where work was oprional will simply be like flexible enough to go through and adapt to the changing standards of society. As education of today is designed to prepare us to work, then education in the future will be designed in order for us to adapt in the technological advancements and artificial intelligence utilization. Working as an optional matter means that there are other matter of living that we are much used to that time to earn money and that I think will be the pattern or the basis of the education standard that will soon be constructed. And on that note, unlike any other beliefs, education will still prevail and useful as much as it is beneficial right now.

I don't buy either of the two arguments: that our 'intrinsic creativity' will, on its own, sufficiently demarcate man vs. machine or that our creativity will be our obvious comparative advantage to machines.

If, for example, a person announced that they had actually created the painting that just sold for $432,500 -- what would you say? Is it all of a sudden art - the same image - because it was associated with a person?

Personhood is a status - it's a designation for individuals we believe are part of our moral communities, worthy of inclusion. Take any atrocity, or look to our treatment of animals, and you will see how fluid this status is. Social groups can easily slide into states that deny others their status as persons -- dehumanization.

I think we will increasingly come to recognize the personhood of certain machines as they take on increasing characteristics of people -- creating art, telling stories, managing their own money (a possibility raised through blockchain), and solving problems. And, some - the horror! - might even be better at art, stories, managing money, and solving problems.

Further, it's likely we are moving into a post-capital world. A world where we already know how to produce 10 x as much food as we need and where we know how to cure the deadliest and most pervasive diseases. Working as stewards of capital will most likely come to an end, partially as a result of automation, partially as a result of no longer needed our efforts placed there. So work will be replaced by something else -- perhaps we will be put to use solving the next major problems: how to make us happy, how to make us immortal, and how to bring us closer to divinity.

I think this is right. Human creativity is the most expensive work.
But the school does not just give a person a set of knowledge. School teaches a person to learn. It is very important. When a person can learn, he can master any profession.

I agree, "transhumanist" technology and the movement towards singularity will open up many philosophical arguments of what it means to be human. Understanding how to achieve well-being in a society completely based on technology that could even make you nearly "immortal" will be the 21-22nd centuries' challenges (if we make it this far.)

This is the part where others say they believe when AIs took our jobs from us, it will give us time to do the other things we would like to do, but can't because we are bound to our jobs. You can travel if you want (but only if you've saved enough to pay for your travel expenses AND still survive after that even without a job) or try other things: a hobby, a new job, etc. But I say unless you're rich or have unlimited source of income that will enable you to live even without earning a paycheck every month, then you're probably doomed once AI took over your job.

I think education will always be about readiness and preparing for the work which is out there, but if hypothetically AI and robots were able to totally take over manual labour jobs, Middle management jobs, and specialisms.. I would imagine education would be more about personal growth and development, philosophical education about what really is consciousness and no doubt it would help harness the very best problem solvers within us, as I think we will have more time to see flaws and ways to improve our technological society..


In short education would be about priming us for the workplace it would be more about where we fit within a modern technological society and how to solve some of life's daily challenges.


 

I agree. I think the only decent jobs are going to be available for engineers and software developers, which means the education systems will likely focus on forming people for such technical positions, along with cultivating creativity as much as possible to program the technology for the greater good, as creativity is one trait that machines don't do so well. (Ethics and philosophy will also be important).

Survival of the fittest will become self-actualization of the fittest, and the rest can survive if they don't harm anyone, which could be possible thanks to the ever-growing democratization and accessibility of experiences.

People have been inventing stuff throughout the century that other people think would replace them. The great thing about humans is that we adapt. We find new things to do better than the machine. We have imagination. They do not. We have creativity. They do not. They are just machines. Even though some people are trying to make robots create "art". It's not really art when there is no imagination or passion behind it.

Not sure I agree with this statement, the key word being 'decent'. The growing disparity of wealth throughout the world is an indication of things to come, and the gap will only grow wider as the expected advancements eat up the the jobs that are maintaining those at the 'bottom of the food chain'. Take away the opportunity for them to earn money, and you pass responsibility to feed their families to those higher up the chain, ultimately putting them at their mercy. Education, as mentioned, is of course important, but will do very little to genuinely benefit the majority - at least on a financial level. There is some truth that everyone has a creative streak in them, and maybe with significantly more time to spend on being creative, it could benefit society (overall) in that way. Just concerned that there would be far too many left relying on other's generosity, which - historically - doesn't normally end well. 

Then again, it is really good policy to let the government employ everyone? It seems like an expensive alternative to the free market -- which just messes with the market price on the wages of people (as government typically provides OK PAY, good benefits, stable job, etc)

I don't think Automation is as crazy of a sight as some people think it is. I do think some people will lose jobs, though the jobs will shift to other fields.

As history shows us in during FDR’s WPA programs of during the American Great Depression, governments are tasked with ensuring their people have jobs.  If most jobs are allowed to become automated in countries like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and even Turkey, then who will feed, clothe and house the masses?  Stephen Hawking said in 2016 that automation along with other factors put many populations at "the most dangerous moment in the development of humanity."  However, there are many bright spots.  According to an August 23 2018 Forbes article by Sameer Maskey,  AI can be leveraged by businesses and NGOs and governments in the areas of emergency response (earthquakes & typhoons), agriculture, medicine delivery, education, and, of course, jobs. 

education will be more customized and automated itself.  people will be able to learn about whatever they want to be great at. literally freedom.  It will mostly be art and technology.  Of course I read the premise of the thread to be after the world has gone fully communist.  Its far into the future unfortunately.

I mean it'd probably be the same as it is now, as education doesn't teach you jack shit about the working world -- so yeah. I'm not seeing any drastic changes (minus the removal of business fields, such as BUSINESS in general)

But I can't see this being a real thing, as theres no way a functioning society has NO ONE WORKING in the least.

Though yet again, I do guess that work is really optional -- but you just won't get to live as nicely as the ones who to live and thrive.

There happens to be a big difference between education and work, education is a process of acquiring knowledge,and this knowledge can be put into practice in diverse aspects of life,one can graduate as a lawyer and up working as a clerk,but by education he's a lawyer,but based on workforce he's a clerk..And come to think about it even at this very time when the world is not totally digital work is still optional,the 👮 cops don't knock on your door in the morning to make sure you're off to work

Talking about technological advancements,it will all be a farce without education,Robots itself are built by highly technical engineers and more and more students are groomed up daily to follow the same line,i think technological advancement would improve the standard of education as the task/requirements would become even more difficult/stiffer..

I also do not think there will ever be a time when half of the population wouldn't have to work,Robots do not go about giving money to people,do they

I am wondering what’s going to happen when due to so many tech advancement humans are no longer needed to work at all since robots are doing the jobs we are currently doing and doing it even way better. How will people survive without jobs since that’s what give us our livelihood.

Posters above me are right about education. It will still be preparing us for work even in a world where robots are dominating in every aspect of our lives.
Think about it for a moment. Somebody has to design and maintain these machines. They will never be able to upgrade themselves and we shouldn't allow them to be able to produce the upgrades of their choosing. You don't want to one day face armed police robots able to blow up half of the city with their heavy weapons. So, there will always be jobs available for people in robotics and since the demands for robots will be high, so will be the demand for their designers and programmers.
We will be provided the basics so that nobody will starve or be homeless, but if you choose to have more, you will have to work.

I also don't see any correlation between tech advancement and earning one's living.
Developed AI and robotization will not make everything free in an instant, mostly they will just decrease the amount of manual labor workplaces. This is the difference, although not because we won't have to earn money - with the decline of manual labor, people will have to focus on other aspects, for example arts and entertainment. In this case education will follow the trend.

Why would "earning a living" be not essential to living a decent life because of AI?

Advancements in AI and the gradual digitization of society could one day lead to a world where earning a living is inessential to living a decent life.

Most education systems are designed to prepare people for the work force, because it's hard to survive in this world without being great at following directions, writing, and understanding some other complexities.

I think creativity and art will become the greatest mental assets in a society of easy abundance. If the majority of the population won't have to work, they'll have to be capable of keeping themselves fulfilled and occupied in other ways.

How do you think the approach to education will adapt to AI and other revolutionary technologies?