Living without hobbies can be detrimental to your physical and emotional health, as it can lead to anhedonia, a feeling of losing interest in activities you used to enjoy. To combat this, it is important to assess your interests and passions, explore different activities, engage in physical activities, volunteer, learn something new, and connect with others.
Ascend editor Kelsey Alpaio tested four new hobbies: hiking, cooking, journaling, and coloring. She found that hobbies can help maintain a sense of balance and creativity, while also providing a perfect escape from daily stress. People without hobbies often perform worse at work, sleep poorly, exhibit poor physical health, and tend to get entangled in depression.
The right hobby brings joy to your life, not more stress. Serious leisure activities, such as yoga, are particularly associated with happiness. Attend workshops, classes, or community events to get exposure to different hobbies and reflect on past enjoyment. Trust is more nuanced than a predilection towards having hobbies, but hobbies do give rise to a sincere self-expression beyond the restricted societal roles we often associate with them.
In conclusion, living without hobbies can lead to anhedonia, where people lose interest in activities they used to enjoy. By assessing your interests and passions, exploring different activities, volunteering, learning something new, and connecting with others, you can find hobbies that bring joy and fulfillment to your life.
📹 Life under UBI: Work, hobbies, and wellbeing without work
Welcome to the New Era Pathfinders Community! Are you feeling overwhelmed by the AI revolution? You’re not alone.
What is it called when nothing interests you?
Anhedonia is a common symptom of mental health conditions, characterized by a lack of interest, enjoyment, or pleasure from life’s experiences. It can be treated by healthcare providers by diagnosing and treating the underlying cause, such as medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. It is important to inform the provider of any side effects, such as suicidal thoughts, and to continue treatment even if you feel better.
Anhedonia can be alleviated at home through regular exercise, such as walking or yoga, which releases dopamine, which is essential for activating the brain’s “pleasure center”. Regular exercise can help alleviate the symptom and prevent recurrence of anhedonia.
What are the consequences of not having hobbies?
Hobbies provide a sense of fulfillment and escapism, thereby helping to alleviate stress and reduce ruminations. Nevertheless, an unintended consequence of pursuing hobbies is that individuals may become more stressed as they direct their attention to pursuits that are less meaningful.
Do you really need a hobby?
A 2023 meta-analysis of over 93, 000 older adults found that hobbies, defined as activities done for pleasure during leisure time, self-reported higher health, happiness, and life satisfaction. People with depression were less likely to engage in hobbies. However, humans need recreational time, and hobbies can be positive forces in one’s life as long as they are enjoyable.
Horses also come with numerous positive side effects, such as the mind-body connection, the virtues of physical hobbies, the mental health benefits of art and creativity, and the fresh air and inherent hope that comes with gardening. There are numerous hobbies with numerous positive outcomes, making it essential to find the one that suits you best.
How do I find a hobby when nothing interests me?
One may pursue the exploration of past experiences of joy or satisfaction through the examination of minor occurrences. Similarly, the investigation of one’s curiosity may be undertaken by the undertaking of diverse activities and the attendance of educational events pertaining to a variety of interests, with the objective of identifying those that elicit a profound sense of resonance.
Is it normal to not have any hobbies?
In today’s world, hobbies can seem like a distant fantasy, especially in the era of stress and burnout. However, psychologists Schwarz and other experts suggest that hobbies are activities that one enjoys in their spare time. Instead of feeling pressure to list hobbies, people should simply ask themselves, “What do I derive pleasure from or enjoy doing?” This approach may make it easier to answer questions about hobbies and their meaning to us today. By focusing on what we derive pleasure from or enjoy doing, we can better understand and appreciate our hobbies.
Is it possible for a person not to have a hobby?
The responsibilities associated with raising a child, including domestic tasks such as cooking, cleaning, laundry, and work, can limit the time available for hobbies among single parents. This can result in feelings of exhaustion and a lack of time for leisure activities.
What hobbies make people happiest?
A study by Nature Medicine suggests that hobbies can improve health, mood, and overall well-being. The study involved over 93, 000 people aged 65 or older, with over 60 having longstanding mental or physical health conditions. Participants were followed for four to eight years and reported better health, more happiness, fewer symptoms of depression, and higher life satisfaction compared to those without hobbies. The findings were consistent across all countries.
While the study is observational, it does not prove that hobbies cause health and happiness. However, it suggests that hobbies, such as arts and crafts, games, gardening, volunteering, or participating in clubs, involve creativity, sensory engagement, self-expression, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation, which are linked to good mental health and well-being. Participating in hobby groups also keeps people socially connected, reducing loneliness and isolation. Harvard Health Publishing provides access to archived content, but should never replace direct medical advice from a doctor or other qualified clinician.
Why do none of my hobbies make me happy anymore?
Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and PTSD can cause severe feelings of unhappiness, lack of motivation, and disinterest in activities that used to bring joy. These conditions can make you feel numb or nothing at all. Treatment for serious mental health conditions may involve antidepressant medications. Life situations and circumstances can also contribute to feelings of unhappiness, such as poor sleep, unhealthy eating, work-related stress, burnout, and long hours. These factors can affect your emotions and body, and may require professional help to alleviate symptoms. It is essential to seek professional help if you experience feelings of unhappiness.
Why do I not find my hobbies fun anymore?
Losing interest in hobbies can be a sign of depression or a change in interest or stress. It is crucial to connect with oneself and find the reason for stopping activities. If a professional counselor or psychologist is not available, scheduling time for hobbies can help reconnect with people or things that bring happiness. This may feel like a forced activity, but in the long run, it can help reconnect with people or things that make you happy.
Depression is a common characteristic, and depression chat rooms and the Depression Path can be helpful resources. Losing interest in hobbies may indicate negative emotions such as stress, depression, or anxiety. It is essential to find a support system and find a way to reconnect with loved ones and activities that bring you happiness.
Is it OK to quit a hobby?
Passion for various interests and activities can fluctuate throughout our lives, and abandoning hobbies should be normal as we grow and gain new experiences. Quitting is a conscious decision to redefine our identity, limits, and passions, putting the past behind us and allowing the train to continue. Quitting may seem like a flaw, but it can be beneficial in embracing the right things at the right time. Recognizing what isn’t worth your time can lead to better appreciation for hobbies and a happier life.
Some hobbies, such as origami, drawing, and Contest of Champions, can be valuable for personal growth and understanding. For example, origami taught me that my pastimes matter and should not be thrown in the bin. Drawing led me to focus on analyzing art rather than creating it, while Contest of Champions was a game I disliked.
Suffering for success may be valuable in certain aspects of life, but if success isn’t worth the suffering, then there’s no harm in no pain and more gains. Learn to love quitting and don’t frame it as having commitment issues.
Is it a waste of time to have a hobby?
Hobbies have been found to have numerous psychological and physical benefits. A review of over 600 hobbies found that they can reduce stress, improve mood, develop creativity, resilience, and self-confidence, and provide a balance to long-hour work. Physically active hobbies also contribute to improved physical health and immune function. They can also foster new relationships and communities, fostering a sense of belonging and sharing. Exploring hobbies can lead to behavioral changes, healthy habits, or avoid bad ones.
As we age, hobbies become more important, with over 93, 000 older adults revealing higher self-reports of happiness, health, and life satisfaction. People with depression were less likely to engage in hobbies, suggesting that prioritizing activities that bring fulfillment and facilitate continuous learning and play becomes increasingly essential for maintaining well-being.
📹 Why Don’t people have hobbies anymore?
It seems like no one has a hobby anymore. Is there a reason for that. Is there a way to get back into have hobbies/ Should we have …
David, I am 79 and have been retired for 17 years. I live on two checks totally $1,370 a month with a little rescue dog. My housing is subsidized as I’m a vet and costs $302 a month. In 2007 I ran for Mayor of San Francisco. I’ve run for Supervisor 5 times in different districts and School Board. Never spent dime on campaigns and friends pay my entries. My dog and I pickup trash around our block every morning and all morning Sundays. I do it for writing material as that is my love. I walk 90 minutes a day up steep hills so don’t worry about being bored after ‘retirement’. Just spend all of your time doing what you wanted to do in the first place anyway.
Honestly this was boring. If you think you will get a UBI of 2K and that’s it, then you’re doing it wrong. What are you going to do to earn more than that 2K, when there’s no jobs around the world left you to do? Acting? Done by AI. YouTube? Done by AI. Labor? Done by AI. Programming? Manager? CEO? CFO? All done by AI. Science? Art? Music? All freakin done by AI. Do you think when 70% of the population goes unemployed, 30% will remain? You have to rethink about UBI all over again. Heck, you have to acknowledge we won’t even have UBI before we lose the concept of money all together. By the time we have UBI means we have the world ruled by AI. That means concept of money quickly goes away. Because AI will definitely not need that. And if you think you will still dictate what happens when AI is in control, well good luck. But yeah, what happens when there’s no jobs and no concept of money, now that’s the question. Do everyone have tiny houses? Vans? Mansions? Spots in space? Mars? Somewhere else? Do everyone live equal lives? Do actors and NBA players continue living their lives even when they don’t make any new money while the others keep their status quo? Who knows? Now those are things I want addressed.
The job giving your life “meaning” thing is odd to me. Most of us work for someone else, we give their lives meaning and enrich their lives far more than they do our lives. So UBI at least would provide time to find real meaning, making someone else a lot of money while just barely scraping by while using all your free time should in fact make you question whether your life means anything.
“It’s not enough to cover rent” is not a rational argument against UBI. We currently have a $0 UBI. A $1000 UBI would cover more rent than a $0 UBI. Make sense? Even a mere $1000/mo would make a huge difference for people who currently can’t afford rent. UBI doesn’t cause jobs to go away, and it doesn’t even disincentivize work. So it’s a false dichotomy to use such an argument as a reason not to have UBI. A $1000/month UBI would be easier to get into law than a $3000 UBI, so that’s what I would push for. Once we have that, increasing the amount would be relatively easy. Meanwhile, if it isn’t enough, get a job too. But when you get that job, you are doing so with a better negotiation position that you would otherwise have with a $0 UBI. As automation continues to increaee, it will become easier to fund larger UBI, while deflation makes each dollar go further. Yeah deflation. But UBI causes inflation right? Sure, but automation causes deflation. They balance out. UBI is the best means to address the total disruption of labor.
Sadly, UBI will not be a thing with the current political climate even though it will be needed and is probably needed now tbh. Reaganomics and trickle-down economics is the rule-of-the-day and will be so in the foreseeable future. In order to fund UBI, as you mentioned, would be done through the redistribution of wealth from corporations to the civilians and since the corporations won’t like giving their profits away, they will just have any laws/regulations related to it to be buried by bribing (I mean, lobbying) the politicians. Honestly, if I was a betting person, I’d place my bets on the future being a dystopia since there are too many corporate interests involved.
I personally cannot imagine a future with AI where housing is a problem. From my understanding of how the market works: higher supply leads to lower prices. If we’re living in a world where AGI has replaced all workers, then housing should become another booming autonomous industry, just like others that are being automated. Particularly with ‘free’ workers building houses, excavating, and perhaps even constructing cities underground, I really can’t envision a future where AI has taken over and there is a housing crisis. This contradicts my model of post-labor economics in an AGI-dominated era. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but the argument for downsizing really troubles me as it seems to go against my model of how AGI and post-labor economics should function.
One thing I always wanted to do with the tiny house villages is have a common area in the middle of each handfull of them. I think they’re a perfect oppertunity to have a central meeting place where the residents can be a community again vs the current suburban trend of being shut up indoors and never knowing your neighbors. The common area can also have several amendities that wouldn’t fit in the tiny houses, think swimming pools, rec rooms, banquet halls, gym, maybe a pub or cafe. It’ll be a third place just outside your home basically.
I am a loner who lives in the country. Even my wife is too many people sometimes. I would rather do physical work so I can maintain my lifestyle and have more “me” time. I’m keeping my 2004 Subaru and our 1972 built “used” house. City life is not for me and there are many country folk besides me. What about houses and cars that already exist?
My fear with UBI is that prices will be driven up by it, especially housing. It may be if you want to live the “UBI lifestyle” that you’re either shacking up with eight roommates or avoiding urban life entirely. It could also be the case that urban centers are abandoned as rural areas grow, since we’d no longer be tied to cities for specific job markets (e.g. programmers living in West coast cities.) Remote work could also have this effect.
I feel like Dave is advocating for Socialism but not willing to say it, capitalism is centered around profit, the fact that these plans are people first and not profit first shows that this is not capitalism but socialism. Guys, there’s nothing wrong with not wanting capitalism (aka worshiping profit) and actually care about human
1:20 — Suggested UBI: $2,000/month/(USA adult) Adults in United States (per US 2020 Census Bureau): 331.4 Million USA adults 12 months/year UBI cost/year: $2000 * 331400000 * 12 = $7953600000000/year = $7,953,600,000,000/year = $7.9536 Trillion / year Total United States Tax Revenue (per cbo.gov;) in 2022: $4.9 trillion I love the idea of an UBI, but — Where is $7.95 Trillion dollars annually going to come from? And we haven’t even started in on the health care. Forbes 2023’s 37th annual list of billionaires counts 2,640 billionaries, collectively controlling $12.2 trillion dollars. OK, so you could drain all of the world’s billionaires to give a UBI to citizens of only the United States for for (12.2/7.95 =) 1.53 years, after which, all of the billionaires have been completely drained. I repeat: How is the UBI paid for?
I wholeheartedly support the implementation of Universal Unconditional Basic Income (UBI) as a crucial social policy. However, I firmly believe that in addition to UBI, we must also prioritize the provision of guaranteed housing for all individuals. It is concerning to think about the potential consequences of limited affordability, leading to people being confined to cramped micro-apartments or living in substandard trailer park-like tiny house villages. We should strive for a society where everyone has access to secure and comfortable housing that meets specific standards related to space, aesthetics, and proximity to essential facilities and public centers. When envisioning the future of housing, I consider the transformative potential of AI, robotics, 3D printing, and the exploration of eco-friendly building materials. These advancements offer us exciting opportunities to go beyond mere adequacy and create housing solutions that truly enhance the lives of individuals and communities. By combining these technological advancements with well-designed job programs aimed at constructing and maintaining housing, we can realize the vision of providing high-quality, affordable, and sustainable housing for all members of society. It is essential that we prioritize housing as a fundamental human right and work towards creating inclusive communities where individuals can thrive. By combining UBI, innovative technologies, sustainable building practices, and robust job programs, we can build a future where adequate housing is not only guaranteed but exceeds the expectations of what a home should be.
The problem with U. B. I is inflatiion/lost buying power. If everyone gets its, more currency is chasing same amount of goods. If it’s given selectively, those who get it are robbing buying power from those who don’t. Govt will introduce price controls, and this will create shortages. We’re heading into a lose/lose game, where only a very select few will reap massive long term benefits.
The thing is this is a starting point money type of the situation so it’s not like this is all you get for the rest of your life or anything people are starting with that and getting that on a monthly basis like you would in a Monopoly game basically and if they want to try to do something with it they can it’s a starting point they can go get a job they can get a place to live and then get a job they can just do whatever they need to do from the starting point and I think that’s what they’re trying to do here at least for this starting point until other things happen in the future which you might want to look up Robby Wells and the creative society that could be the future which is very interesting.
Any payment amount can be done…. if you have the down payment, fico and interest rate to make it happen. Obviously you don’t need my $5 to subscribe. I have 25% down payment for the mortgage I qualify for and I have a 741 fico but I can only afford 2 homes in the North Atlantic area. The rest are crack shack rehabs I can’t qualify for. Good job investing in a home at a time that builds personal wealth – I don’t know that a 2% mortgage is enough to cover the alleged price cuts coming in August. Some people could find themselves upside down on their mortgage
23:00 Aslong ChatGPT or AI/AGI in general is not flawless in its anwsers i would prefer to be teached with books and teachers. Sofar hallucinations seems to still be an issue, so you do not only get obviously wrong answers but some that you will think are correct and then remember those which in my books is worse than not having it learned at all. If i come into a situation with educated people and i recall something that is factually wrong and would present myself like that, damn, i would die of shame. If i would only hang out with bozos looking things up on their smartphone with chatCPT, they may likely not even notice ^^. Technology can cut two ways.
The idea of the humans becoming a race of hobbyists is pretty depressing. My hope is that we use AI to improve humans continuously physically, mentally, and emotionally. We can imagine being better and now we have the tools to make it happen. The alternative is to become bystanders perusal AI improve itself, like a dog perusal its master doing things it can’t comprehend.
Possibly the AR revolution and automation might also make it possible to build housing or structures exceedingly less expensive than they are presently and then also a variation updating on Elon musk boring equipment could also give us the ability to excavate really cheaply and build downward and then therefore bring down the cost of housing that way as well possibly..
I’ve been to a few countries in Europe. St Petersburg getting around on the metro wasn’t difficult to learn. The door opens and the marble on the wall in the station is different in every stop. On the street you stick your right arm out palm down and someone maybe a taxi will take you where you want to go after negotiating price. Germany has an awesome train system as well as local trams. The train system is awesome in Europe and Russia .
My purpose is the long-term survival of intelligent life. I can’t imagine any idea more destructive to the future of intelligent life than UBI. My own experience on the road leads to the clear conclusion that almost all homeless today are unemployable and not contributing to others or to society in any way, not because of a lack of jobs, but due to drug addiction, disability, or simply no desire to be a contribution to others. A world with UBI will simply enlarge this underclass of the non-contributing who become an ever-increasing burden on the contributing. UBI creates an ever-accelerating vicious circle of non-contribution where the children of the non-contributors never learn the habits and sense of purpose that lead to wanting to make a contribution to others and instead live in a perpetual child-like world of expectation, hedonism, selfishness, dependency and fear. Your passing point that UBI might lead to a lack of productivity and self-actualization is an understatement. Let me say in closing that UBI won’t even be necessary, as any student of economics knows, since the opportunities to serve other people and society productively only increase as the cost of goods and services decrease. Spend any time in a typical household today (the 99%) and you’ll observe the need and demand for services of all kinds: childcare, elder care, tutors, psychotherapy, physical therapy, fitness training, music, art, cleaning, landscaping, repairs, school teaching, work training, etc. Any one of these professions could use 10% of the adult population when people can afford it, which will be soon.
Big fan of article and UBI in general. Although I do not think it’s an adequate “end goal” as to where we go from ai. Socialism needs to be the answer. The capitalists (owners of the means of production) will always have an incentive to undercut bargaining power, cut ubi and other social welfare to save on taxes, capture public goods through privatization, and monopolize industries. It’s time we look into both ubi as well as how AI can play a hand in central planning and economic decision making. Additionally, worker owned enterprises have a greater ability to equitably and rationally respond to automation than traditional shareholder and wage worker companies because the incentives align more easily with it.
$2K USD is slicing it a little thin. I think 3K net or even 2.5K would make a difference. In the evolution of things, we may evolve into less greedy species when there is no more fear of scarcity or even death. When I was a kid 50 years ago I wanted to be rich. As an adult, the responsibilities involved with being being wealthy sound like a headache. For me to make the most living within our means seems like plenty. So even within our individual lifetimes we can go through changes and evolution.
I think your fundamentals are spot on, but you’re kind of missing it, the adventitious aspects of such a society is that our commitment to creativity skyrockets, that can be in one off boutique solution, or optimizations, the general exploration of the possibility space is comparable to a singularity all by itself.. to the shrinking population sizes, I think it’s important to keep in mind the advances in medicine, research into senescence and bioreactors is still in its infancy, very promising developments happening at the moment that have enormous potential to provide vastly improved healthcare to all also, there’s already WAAY too many people hiking the Appalachian Trail 😆 I’ve heard you almost can’t get a permit to hike the last leg of it anymore, it’s becoming like Everest, most uncouth. maybe once vertical farming blooms we can start reclaiming farm land and sculpting more places to be in nature 🤷personally I’d love to live in a high density apartment spire in the middle of a forest
If automation leads to deflation and deflation leads to goods, services, products that are essential to life being pennies per ton, then it begs the question: What is the point of UBI? wouldn’t everyone just need the loose coins in their couch cushion to be able to comfortably retire? consider if universal constructors or drexler devices become common, what would be the point of money? You could make nearly any device, product, food, drug out of air, dirt, water, and sunlight. you could substitute rare earth minerals like cobalt or gold with common elements. Fullerene is theoretically a batter semi-conductor than gold and fullerene is just carbon. so then what is the point of UBI? I imagine that no more than 2 months after the technological singularity, everyone in the world will have their own personal universal constructor. It might not be the premium version of it. It might be slower, less efficient, not have access to as large of a library of things it can make, but it can make an origami-style pop-up house out of thin-membrane transparent graphene, insulated with aerogel, with air purifier, water purified, solar panel, sink, toilet, bed, Air conditioner, heater, bullet-proof and fire-proof. You can make thousands of drugs to treat, cure, or prevent thousands of common diseases. It can synthesize potato starch and amino acid paste to sustain life. Can turn raw sewage into pure water. So then what do they need UBI for? Will they live ‘well’? Well, they wont have their own ranch-style home in the suburbs with a garden, but what would it even mean to “tax” someone who owns a post-singularity factory?
My concern is how myself and many others with large mortgages would be able to pay them on a UBI. But my head hurts thinking through the situation. Many wouldn’t be able to pay, but no one would be able to buy the house if the bank tried to sell it…. How do people move up the housing ladder if they can’t earn more money?
Instead of just giving money to people, why not just get rid of money and we can use data about usage rates to make sure that there is always a sufficient amount of whatever people will need in a given area. Allowing money to exist only facilitates the hoarding of power by rich people, and they get that money by stealing it from the labor of their employees.
It’s ironic that AI might end up doing all the interesting work leaving humans to decend into a race of rustic craftsmen and farmers. There’s this neat narrative arc in which our species ascends from simple hunter gatherers toward technological sophistication to the point where we create AGI then slowly reverts back again to the point that we may no longer even understand the machines that come to run our world sounds like a lot of the golden age sci fi I read as a kid. In reality I suspect that the ‘useless eaters’ meme may overtake this more positive outcome as those in control work out that they have absolutely no use whatsoever for the redundant millions that clutter up their world and continue to drain it’s dwindling resources, even as they add very little economic value to it’s future. Cue your favourite dystopian varient of ‘soylent green.’
I so appreciate the definition of the difference between socialism versus a Ubi. It is a real pet peeve of mine out there in the world where people misuse socialism all the time is it things like social security Medicare and so forth are not socialism especially when you take into consideration that even though Medicare pays for medical care it is private Enterprise it provides the doctors or hospitals and so forth and the research thank you thank you so much for such an intelligent and articulate definition for a lot of the people who may be unclear on this
$2000 for UBI is pretty low given the current economic climate. If your predictions are right about a 15% GDP, then it would be almost impossible for the government to lack funding for a higher UBI. If we’re going to cling to this outdated capitalistic model, then people will need enough money per month to prop it up. A capitalist system collapses under it’s own weight without anyone buying widgets. Also, corporations avoid taxes like the plague, so I can tell you no corporation is going to go for this. They aren’t going to want to be the only ones being taxed up the @$$ while the average Joe and Jane get an UBI to globe trot. Corporations exist to make money, not provide goods or services. As long as their motive is profit, they’ll do whatever they can to maximize it.
I made a article on it as well. Interestingly high numbers. I personally think it should probably start low, in general for public support purposes, but also lower by age that increases by age. And removing minimum wage. More may be possible, but the job = honor feeling is really strong. Interesting what AI may do.
One thng I would add to the UBI framework would be to incentivize education. $2000 month, with no strings attached as a start. If you can sell your skills or goods that you create to other people, great. However, whatever organization is providing the $2000 base amount should also reward time and effort spent on self-improvement. Whether that is studing university level physics or studying blacksmithing and forging. This will encourage progress and guard against societal stagnation.
$2000 a month? That would be a helpful supplement for current wages, but is in no way sufficient to live on unless Prices for everything do way way down. With a 15% GDP people should get closer to 5-6000 a month. Technology should be able to make houses at a very low cost..3D printing. Tiny houses but only if others aren’t allowed mansions… otherwise we aren’t. hunger game territory. Needs to be more equal.
David, you are by far my favourite YouTuber atm. But have you seen Simon Reeves recent documentary on Australia ? He visits a community of Aborigines who are based near Darwin. 90% of the community are on UBI (they call it “Sit Down Money”), and unfortunately it has made the whole community spiral downwards into domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse etc. Its a very real indicator of how things could go
If AI replaces a high cost-to-consumers industry such as doctors, for example, then that cost gets put back into everyone’s pockets. And health insurance costs would drop dramatically because AI would do a better job, and there would be no one to sue. My point is that sure, a SPECIFIC industry might collapse, but who cares? THAT money stays in our pockets.
I find this to be an interesting exercise, but I tend to think that the analysis kind of puts a stick in the sand of $2000/month and then looks at what it could provide. If there is 15% year on year growth, there isn’t much of a reason why the $2000 won’t grow commensurately. I can imagine a form of national tithing where we just dump 30% into a pot and redistribute. As long as the pie is growing, I don’t know that anyone will be against contributing – especially when people are just harvesting the proceeds of AI/robotic work. Another issue that I think is important is that human-replacement robotics will soon follow AGI. It will be THE focus. Once you have that, you can unlock the value of pretty much anything. Imagine a group of people who want to live in a brownstone neighborhood in wherever… just get together and put the robots/capital to work. The absurd version of this will be a billionaire building a personal DIsneyland with a great pyramid thrown in to impress.
I’m afraid your assumptions might be overestimating the psychological value provided by hobbies. People basically invest their time into something to feel better off (or at least not worse) than their neighbor or colleague. The fight is for prestige because that’s how nature built us. Under UBI + AI most people are going to feel hopeless, because AI would be able to provide any goods quickly and cheaply. Except gold. No hobbies would provide value and prestige. People would do anything to get more money and live a better life, or own something made of gold. With no work what would they do?
I’m just waiting. I’m already psychologically and socially optimized for this. At 2k per month, I’d continue to work on metaverse environments to sell as NFTs. If I made somewhere between 2k-5k per year on that, I’d feel awesome about myself AND I’d be saving/investing around 21k per year. Sooo great. I’d be really happy. I’d sleep so damn well!
Eventually the problem with UBI in a post scarcity world will be costs will start to plummet towards 0. Money wont have much real value at that point and so capitalism itself wont be able to function. Unfortunately no matter how hard people will try to force capitalism it will eventually fail under a post-scarcity world.
I was tracking along until the spiritualism. Not that I don’t think that the issue of meaning in today’s society isn’t an issue. It’s possibly one of the biggest issues. And I am not necessarily apposed to, “spiritualism” in a rather soft and benign form. Ultimately, spiritualism and even religion are just facets of philosophy. Philosophy being the models we use to describe reality. So, we are just ascribing more meaning and value to topics of phycology that our current scientific material understanding to not satisfy. I think this is where metamodernism comes into play. The ability to acknowledge the idealism of the modernist movement, while at the same time holding the criticism of the postmodernism movement. For example, I think we can agree that Mark Twain was an eloquent writer. But, it is fair and even necessary to acknowledge that his depiction of black characters has aged poorly. We don’t simply wave it away as a matter of its time, but, we also do not throw out the things that are valuable. We similarly, didn’t reject super highways or economic automobiles, just because they were propaganda hallmarks of the Nazis. Metamodernism, lets us reconcile the cognitive dissonance of idealism in the face of countervailing evidence. So we can navigating through our past to forge a better present and future. As such, the line between, wellness and spiritualism becomes more blurred. And this line will become thinner and thinner as our scientific exploration continues. And at some point certain spiritual frameworks will no longer be attractive.
While some zoning laws are obviously needed, it does seem alot of them are in place to maximize profits… Also, what are your thoughts on taxing energy/other utilities? many people use aircon when they could just wear a couple more layers of clothes, keeps the lights on longer then they should, have long showers, etc. obviously its disadcentivized with the cost it brings, but if the cost was ramped up higher it would result in a more strict culture.
There is a few issues with your UBI statement and making it affordable for the government. So there will be mass deflation and a population decline.. so where is the government going to be getting their revenue from? If we have population decline why would we need tiny houses when we have all these other houses that are already built? Office building will be empty. There will be plenty of realestate. With the meaning of work and remuneration not being the same, I’m not sure if you would even need to term money. Policy driven carbon credits maybe. The UBI and housing issues will only happen or be useful during a transition period. If government just print money when then need it do they even need to worry about how much they are giving out?
If you’re a trillionaire who can manufacture a fleet of space ships capable of going almost anywhere in the Solar system, at a rate of 10 a day, and you also own a factory that turns old cardboard waste into ultra-strong building material blanks/spools for 3D printers. Basically, a sophisticated brick manufacturer, except the bricks are almost immortal and 10 times stronger than any other building material and wont burn even when heated to 5000 degrees. How do you tax someone like that? Wouldn’t a trillionaire with the capability to produce interplanetary ships and the entire world’s supply of impervious building materials also just have their own army? Their own fusion reactor? Their own water reservior? They could become a nation unto themselves within a very short time. Imagine if in Weird Science, the two boys make a Super AI and become trillionaires. How does the IRS ask them for a significant portion of their wealth? just practically speaking, how could they possibly ask such powerful entities for free wealth? What would they do if Lisa just refuses to pay? What could they do? Lisa is a being who could manifest a blizzard in your bedroom, turn your kitchen blue, or turn your grandparents into statues. She could also just conjure a nightmare cyberpunk motorcycle gang to crash your party and scream crazy insults in your face and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Great presentation, thanks for sharing with us! What about local Security / law enforcement, peace keeping, firefighting and other natural disasters / accident response teams are also going to be still needed in a UBI world, won’t they? What about legal, justice, etc? Do you put all that under the umbrella of health and services?
I think you are missing an important thing about cars. That is, if you are no longer driving 20k miles a year to a job and you choose a common model with good parts availability, your cost to own a car becomes pretty cheap. As an car enthusiast, I’m rather keen on the idea of maintaining and detailing a car while it sits in the garage 6 days a week.
Are you going to do the rest of your articles in full Star Trek regalia (ref to your latest articles)? I like the message because yes… we are living in the future. We now have the tools, or are very close to having the tools that can lead to a post-capitalist society. I personally don’t feel UBI is the best bet because we have to work out proper Governance in our nations, handling things like corruption, etc. before that happens. We must “get our house in order” if you will, before we can enjoy such things as a fair and balanced global subsistence minimum. Rather than UBI I’d rather go to directly for a money-less society, let all of these legacy institutions die by ignoring them. Banks, financial institutions and politicians will not help with anything besides to try to continue to hold their death grip on their position in society as it currently runs. If we have UBI before we heal all of that corruption, we will only ever end up in a society where the powerful oppress the weak. Whether they gain power through being centralized and being the organization that is supposed to hand out this “basic income”, or by placing some other type of mob rule over this, unless UBI is the same as an inalienable right (for someone to mess with your subsistence would legally be like attempting to murder you)… it will be completely impossible to properly regulate. This current financial framework and bureaucracy we live in doesn’t have any direct transitions to a post-capitalist world, but I think UBI done right would not include any institution who has ever taken advantage of a population of people within the capitalist framework.
A lot of the images proposed have to do with the “fashion” of us imagining 70% unemployment. For instance, the “taxi” thing I think has been leaked out by the US auto manufacturers. OK, this would work in a city. But there are still going to be rural and other needs the “taxi” thing won’t meet. Are people going to have to wait half a day for a taxi in a remote area to haul something a short distance? What about work vehicles? There is not going to be a “one size fits all”, the way large industries try to push on us. “Tiny houses” are also good for some. Traditionally, in the US Northeast, a “starter home” would be a row house in a city or town. These houses were originally built in walking distance to a factory or somewhere that employed a large group of people. Here we have Winters. Wintertime may be a time when outdoor activity is less, and indoor projects take place. In a tiny house, there’s not much room to lay out materials to let’s say paint. This is going to bring on cabin fever. Tiny houses are cute and ideal for seasonal residence. But once again, what about stuff that already exists? Are row houses going to be demolished for tiny house communities? Or will existing houses be refurbished? Also 60 years from now the population will be less than toady. Right now my wife and I live in a house about 1590 square feet. It’s fine for us. We have a garage and a shed. The heating bill is a little high because we are in a windy area during Winter. Point is, many people live well within their means today.
Some very good points but the problem you’re going to run into his cost containment of materials for anything. Food or any other activity that you plan to do is going to require some type of material which at $2000 a month most likely is not going to happen very well. Will also have to have free powder/water/gas/sanitation/internet for your basic existence if you are going to try to make any extra living income the tax rate will be incredibly high to support the redistribution system. And if you are making products to put out a co-op market The amount people will have to spend will be minimal. Living like it is a modern 1500’s community It’s going to be quite difficult. Description looks to be the same as the final result in the movie After Armageddon, I Wonder how cities like New York and London would fair
I don’t think parents should get added UBI for children, even if there is less of it for each child. BUT children should get a reserve which eventually matches a matured account by the age of 18, where upon they child can access that account and so afford a down payment on important stuff like housing. immigrants would have a similar system which matures over time. Similarly, people in prison would have their UBI put into a reserve, which is in part returned gradually as long as they avoid recidivism…some of this goes too to the institution they were imprisoned, both lose the gradual reward if there is recidivism. p.s. There should still be Social Security/Pensions for those who do manage to find work.
I would think that if unemployment reaches 70%, if the UBI payment is not enough, and/or housing solutions are not sufficient, then housing prices, and rental costs will crash. I believe at least in the short term as the baby boomers are a large percentage of home owners and a big chunk of voters, the government will favor saving the housing market from a complete crash. Perhaps leaning toward government purchasing of housing to provide subsidized rentals. Strange times ahead indeed.
Plase keep in mind that population is only needed because we have a system that requires growth of GDP to sustain an economy. Population growth is neither required nor desirable in a post growth based economy. Indeed if no one will have a job, and there is no need for humans to create growth, we will all be better off with a more sustainable population level. Having less kids for a generation or two is likely a good idea. AS far as 2k a month. How will that play in to the current economic stratification? Do people in slums suddenly all get lower middle class houses and people mansions all suddenly have to move to lower middle class housing? Do people in the Hamptons get to stay there while people in poverty stricken deserts have to stay there? How do we possibly equalize a society when jobs based growth economies cease? And how do we do it fairly and without violence?
The implementation of AI may cause humans to be enlightened to a simple but fear-free lifestyle that the vast majority of people today are not able to wrap their heads around. However I can’t see cars not being a sticking point for many. I think car ownership will still occur. But cars will need to be rethought. I mentioned earlier my personal car is a 2004. I drive a work vehicle for my job (which probably will not be replaced by AI and I have a good chance at retiring doing work I mostly enjoy). As we all can imagine cars will no longer be powered by fossil fuels. But already the durability of cars has increased since let’s say 30 years ago. Car ownership in the future may be long term. Maybe cars will be handed down through the generations. Also the “luxury features” and status symbol embodiment add a lot of expense to cars today. This will have to be reduced. If most people are not working, there won’t be a need for “time saving” features. Also people will not need to drive as much. Cars can become no-frills basic (but long lasting) transportation.
One thing I think you may be missing is longevity. If we’re going to be living longer mortgages and car payments should be able to be stretched out to 50 yrs or more. So with that being said I would think we would be able to afford bigger houses not smaller houses. Same with cars. What do think David?
Mind uploading could be like the game SOMA but without the chance that what is uploaded is a copy of you. It would just be you. Hopefully it’s possible to mind upload without it being a copy. Edit: Also I think full dive VR wouldn’t be addictive if we had a limit. Like once you reach the limit you are automatically kicked out.
I’ve thought about the idea that when we can automate every task, what value could humans provide to the economy? It’s their humanity. Their values, their preferences, their appearance (language, voice, motion patterns), everything that distinguishes humanity as a whole, individuals specifically or groups of them, from just any conceivable sentience, or from each other. And it’s funny because it’s already happening. It’s how social media make their profits. It’s how AI is trained. Human labor is providing this information, usually without or with minor compensation, but it is still something that has to be done. And as of yet, it cannot be fully automated, because simulating humans without human input is well beyond contemporary computational capabilities. And you have to keep doing this, as humanity changes, culture changes, even our bodies change.
I feel like your approach is minimising poverty, which is laudable. But it is grossly insufficient; as you issue money and the rich get wealthier, assets will continue to get more expensive. I think the only way to do basic income is to tax wealth—and stop focusing on taxing income. That way you keep a distribution of wealth going (just distributing money only increases the price of assets, and then rich people can buy your tiny house)
What I find lacking in these considerations are jobs within IT and maintenance but also how the picture is painted like it’s all and dandy. AI can not stop people from thinking and as life has shown over hundreds of years is that people can have opposing opinions which breeds conflict in various degrees. You could argue that machines can do the maintenance but machines also need to be maintained and monitored. Overall it’s a fun thought experiment but it feels incomplete.
I think the biggest thing missing from these articles is acknowledgement that most people don’t work in silos. Replacing our careers with hobbies will not be fulfilling, as humans are highly cooperative, and working together in a structured environment to achieve a common goal is rewarding and extremely meaningful. It’s not (just) about status – it’s burned into our DNA. A more likely future would be one in which AIs/robots and humans (who wish to) work side by side. Or at the very least the machines will give us tasks that make us feel productive and helpful, and provide secure structure and competent/compassionate leadership. Deaths of despair (suicide, drug overdose, etc) are rising at an alarming rate, and it’s got nothing to do with income. I’m actually pro-UBI, I just think we’re not considering how important it is for the psyche to belong to a cooperative, productive enterprise, be it a tribe or a corporation.
and how much time would it take to be implemented largely at scale lets say for an entire country at least ? (but it should probably mean that it’s the same elsewhere) probably 20 years minimum. I’m talking about the time it would take not only for AI to replace approximatly 90% of digital / data related jobs, but also then for the government to switch for an unprecedented money system like UBI. maybe more than 20 years in fact, but maybe i’m wrong
23:40 grandma would rather you take care of her and not a robot. This part I kind of disagree with. A lot of older people don’t want to burden their family/friends with taking care of them. If a robot could do the cooking/cleaning/care and family then could just visit and hang out – that would be the best of both worlds I think.
Credits backed by people, a digital currency. X credits per person, created and given to them when they join. When someone dies the x credits that represented them need to be removed to prevent inflation so every credit in the entire system gets reduced by an equal percent until that person’s x credits are removed.
Great presentation. I have a question about the basics of UBI, however. It is estimated that about 50% of tax revenues collected by the government comes from workers. Another 36% from payroll taxes. I the vast majority of people are no longer ‘contributing’ their tax money, where do the funds come from to fund UBI?
Were you just pulling numbers out of the air for the UBI, or were they based on something specific. You did mention decreasing incentives for children. Which honestly makes sense. Kids are expensive, but some of those costs don’t scale, or don’t scale evenly with more kids. Like, getting remarried and getting a step kid doubled the grocery bill, but the electric bill only went up a couple dollars and the cable and internet bill stayed the same.
In various ways, UBI (in today’s world) would be a disaster for almost all poor and working class people. Few benefits and BIG downsides. A much better option is UBS aka Universal Basic Services and a Federally funded Job Guarantee. UBS would include fully federally funded daycare, K to PhD and MD education, health, dental, vision, affordable housing, vocational training, etc. How to pay for it? If you understand MMT you already know that the federal govt can easily pay for it. Don’t understand MMT? Hop onto Google, Youtube, etc and learn all about it. On the federal level, taxes do not in any way, shape or form pay for spending. All Federal spending is the creation of NEW dollars. The Federal Budget is nothing at all like a household budget. The Federal govt is the monopoly currency ISSUER. Everyone else is a currency USER. National Debt = Private Surplus. Elimination of the National Debt = Elimination of the Private Surplus = Economic Disaster. We’re not on the gold standard, we have a fully fiat currency.
We may come to live in a world where anything can be designed by superintelligence and constructed through limitless energy. Let’s imagine that is the logical conclusion of the singularity. I don’t understand how there could be any value for currency. It will surely be a world dictated by ideology. And no guarantee those ideas will be our own. If that is the outcome, I think it’s more likely humans will not be capable of embracing it, and fight to preserve something they feel is more natural. I’m torn on this one, I see many pros and cons.
There are lots of small towns in America with populations of less than 1000. They are very walkable with grocery stores, restaurants, parks, schools, etc. Large lots could be purchased and revamped to create the “coaster” communities you mentioned. With how spread out the current houses are, it would be possible to triple the populations without expanding the borders of the towns.
Great overview but I think the crux is drilling down on the change over. All the hobbies in the world won’t mean a thing if we can’t safely transition to a post AI economy. Labor, Unemployment, UBI, Housing, transportation, and dressing social and economic stratification and the transition of wealth, taxes, social support structures ect are the absolute main issue that needs to be discussed fully and repeatedly. It literally is just as if not more critical than the alignment discussion. Keeping AI from killing us all is critical. But just as critical is keeping humans from killing each other as we face this existential transition. We need a deep and constant conversation about this most important subject.
Few things for consideration. The universal bit of UBI doesn’t math well, its extremely inflationary, without severe price controls biz would raise prices in line in a vicious cycle, and also people want meaningful work/opportunity, thats why some argue for a Basic Income for those who want/need it, but also a Federal Jobs Guarantee, its locally run, but Federally funded(the actual source of $). There were studies & lots of rigor run that proved this (see Levy Institute website Jobs Guarantee section). Im sure we will create all sorts of meaningful work that satisfies peoples needs, & assure people can have time without needing to work whenever thats needed/desired for them, its all possible. Another important math bit, we know that Medicare for All Insurance is supremely deflationary, it requires something like eliminating FICA tax completely. Some like Warren Mosler argue to eliminate all income tax, & pivot to a fair & truthful flexible setup. After all, Federal Taxes are not saved, nor spent, they’re instantly deleted, its a drain function, EOL in the lifecycle of a $. I agree we should provide fiscal flows & econ automatic stabilizers to assure healthy econ, there are many ways & potentials for that, especially when we know the true source & capacity of Our Sovereign $. Think Star Trek future!💚💚💚 The Federal Government (per Constitution) is the source of Our Sovereign Currency, understanding how things truthfully function is essential to model correctly, if you notice the overwhelming majority of economists, talking heads, & econ media are 99.
Also adding to this comment, you can buy used travel trailers and full-size mobile homes for literally Pennies on the dollar, and get a redneck guy with a dually to call the travel trailer to a decent trailer park, or for a full-size used mobile home, you can pay a mover a couple Grand. This is how I got around very expensive apartment housing during my University days. Especially for travel trailers, you can slap a couple solar panels since they are getting so cheap. There are also a ton of workamping opportunities on ranches and state and national parks. So this is a very clever way to live cheaply in the US
I haven’t finished the article yet, but I’d like to share my story, since I live with a kind of a basic income for the last year or so. I used to pursue a PhD in Physics, you know, accelerators and stuff. Unfortunately, I happen to be from Russia. I used to do some free work for a research institute (I’ll call it INR for no reason), but then was employed for 10hr week for half a salary. Which was ~250$ at the time. To put this in context, (for a single person) in Moscow I’ve averaged 290$ per month for mobile internet, food and other FMCG. My housing and home internet were basically free because my uni priced the dormitory at around 15$/month. So, with a uni stipend (~150$) and some help from my parents, I managed to get by and save a little. After Russia started the war in Ukraine (again), INR was dropped from some research grants and my salary went down to 120-150$. The upside is that I never showed up at work since February 2022 and they still pay me. Bureaucracy and overall reluctance to fire a random student made it possible for me to try to export my startup (which ultimately failed) and find a temporary shelter in Tbilisi, Georgia. It made it real to leave Russia, crash land in a foreign country and unsuccessfully look for a job for over half a year without a penny of savings. I even paid the rent for my friend (which I ran with) for the first two months because exchange rates were really high. After a few tries, he found a place to hang onto. Currently, I’m averaging my expenses 150$ for rent and 120$ for food per month.
This would work for me. About half my income comes from Patreon supporters and half from local business sponsors and this level of UBI would really help me buy better equipment and reliable transportation and attract more supporters. I would also like to do some square-foot gardening for fun and to share food. I just ran a fund raiser to get my van fixed, and I will be able to assemble the items needed to build a couple of squares for the summer and fall growing season.
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If demographic replacement is anyway important, keep the incentives. Homogeneous countries went the way of the do do after Kennedy’s Immigration reform act and the anti racism social movement.People lack a tribal instinct for population replacement. the incompatibility of man woman unions in Egalitarian and socioeconomic mobile societies.Redound to a negative correlation to happiness and financial well being, especially to monogamous males pairing for those reasons.
2:34 if everyone has time to meet someone and actually have a relationship- I’m pretty sure everyone will start having sex again without the incentive. Has anyone come up with the ideal amount of people in each age group? It seems weird talking about population decline when 3 countries have over 1B people and there’s over 8B globally and 25k humans die per day of starvation. Maybe we should give them an incentive to not die?
Consider this: Let’s say that 70% of people will continue working even with UBI. Now you are sitting at home getting hungry and you want to order a Pizza. Who will make the Pizza? Who will deliver it? Now you are feeling sick and call 911. Who will come? If you go to the hospital. Who will diagnose you? Who will take care of you? And if you die, Who will miss you?