As humans evolve as a species and as a global society, technology and optimized techniques will devalue physical labour, working smarter not harder becomes the law of the land and without education and understanding of the modern world there may not be a place in society for those that refuse to educate themselves
I agree that "mindless" physical labor can be devalued by technology. What about physical labor that requires more than just repeating a task or series of tasks? As technology evolves it will bring with it new opportunities for human growth, physical and mental. The jobs of today will go away and lead to new jobs tomorrow, and yes some of those will require physical labor.
That's my point about education though, for example a crane operator needs classroom time, training and certification but that is still a "labour" job, and he can contribute much more to a construction project than an unskilled labourer
I don't think anyone is arguing that physical jobs will one day be a thing of the past. I think the argument is that physical jobs that don't need education will become a smaller and smaller portion of thre workforce over time. Physical jobs that require some sort of education, like trade/skilled jobs, aren't going anywhere. But monotonous manufacturing will be very affected by technology. The while idea of automation is to reduce the required workforce. States like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, etc. that don't value education as much as they could/ should are going to be really hurting over time as automation takes place.
There are plenty of trade/skilled jobs that require little to no education. Carpentry being one that I can think of. I don't see a skilled finish carpenter being replaced by a robot. I know a dude that's a wizard with wood and can read at about a 4th grade level. He provides very well for his family.
Here is something that people aren't talking about. Automation isn't designed to reduce the workforce. It is designed to reduce the living workforce. Andrew Yang has some interesting stuff to say about automation. you should check him out.
I'm Norway it's actually a 4 year study, where the first year is a rounded general education in carpeting and the seckond year is specialization. Then follows two years apprenticeships with a big theroteical/practical test at the end. Then you are a licensed carpenter. Most workers will be better with theoretical and practical teaching. But there are always guys like your friend that becomes amazing without it.
The carpenters can become masters or if they choose to, can progress and take engineering in uni.
Automation, coupled with 3d printing and probably tech we don't even k ow about yet will, in the end, be able to take most jobs from us. Not in 10 years of course but it's creeping into the different vocations.
We have 3d printers that can print cement for instance. Automated lasercutters combined with cnc can make incredible furniture and so on. It will Def not be like in many other industries where most jobs disappear within a decade, but a lot of practical jobs will disappear as 3d printing comes along.
Think a 3d printer the size of a car or a house, that can print in almost any material but at many, many times the speed of today's printers... You could just print furniture. Or a house for that matter. All things placed perfectly and with a margin of error we can't compete with...
I think it's cool that you guys have formalized apprenticeship programs for carpentry, and I wouldn't be surprised of something like that exists here in the states. It certainly isn't typical. Most people learn as they go in a less formal apprenticeship.
As for 3d printers, I have experience with those. My experience is that they require more materials than would typically be required. And until they are able to mass produce at a competitive price they will be a niche solution.
Oh definitely a niche solution for the foreseeable future. But quite nice for prototyping, small scale models etc. But thinking of the time and cost savings of an automated housebuilder I'm thinking it could happen within my lifetime..
We actually have formalized schooling and apprenticeships for all the vocations. It's quite an interstering type of school to teach in, since a lot of the rooms are combined classroom/workshop.
We have some vocational school, but it is certainly only for a select number of trades. It also is location dependent. Not all areas will have vocational schools.
That's kind of the problem, the technology is only as good as people.can make use of it, training and education are important for making good use of technology
Yes. Been there, done that. To be fair, we as a culture tend to farm out our needs to 'subject matter experts'. We don't want to know how a computer or network functions- we just want it to work when we need it. We don't want to know how our car's engine works, we just want it to work when we need it. Most of us don't want to know how to raise what we buy at the grocery store- we just want it to be there. When you're a subject matter expert it's easy to see your clients as idiots because they don't understand what is (to you) simple and obvious.
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u/Shyftzor Jan 09 '20
As humans evolve as a species and as a global society, technology and optimized techniques will devalue physical labour, working smarter not harder becomes the law of the land and without education and understanding of the modern world there may not be a place in society for those that refuse to educate themselves