Hello everyone, it's beautiful to start writing here again. For those of you who know me (very few I believe), I'm a developer at Busy project which is a different app for Steem blockchain. I'm working on this project for nine months now and I believe I have an acceptable understanding about the technology behind Steem and it's potential. I also like to understand why humans do what they do. So first here is a situation we have right now with people in power:
Pardon me if you felt the negativity but I am very positive about how things may turn out. The very idea of humans getting paid for their little contribution is not just a fancy idea for social networks and similar websites. It's more like a concept for the survival of humans and how things are supposed to be. Give me a minute to explain myself.
I dislike driving, so I've been really happy with the invention of taxi rental apps like Uber, Lyft and Grab (In South-east Asia). I use these services everyday and nothing excites me more than finding a friendly driver to engage in a conversation during the trip (in south-east Asia, it happens most of the times). Yes I'm a geek but I still prefer human interactions over going deep through my phone in social environments.
No matter how much I find these conversations interesting and these people full of life, it breaks my heart to see their career is going down the road with the invention of autonomous cars (AKA driver-less cars). These companies are making money with the efforts of these people, making an industry bigger which invites more young souls to join this for a temporarily profitable job and then make them jobless in a matter of years. They will lose their jobs in their early thirties right in a period in life which you need progress in your career and respect from family. They are killing these not well informed humans with the name of progress in technology.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all in for progress in the field of science and tech. I've always been an early adopter for anything with a real value and I love to see humans are progressing in technology to a new era. What I don't understand is how we are simply sacrificing our own species for a materialistic version of science. Something that is more guided to make profit for the corporates and wealthy class rather than bringing value to masses.
First understanding: Science is directed by market
We need to know that science is not directed by creative humans who are working for their own endeavor in life. There are some exceptions, but the majority of growth in science and tech are directed by corporates and educational institutes that are following the money trail. Universities are proud of having highly employable graduates and most of the scientist are hired with great salaries for the purpose of making more money. Science is growing but not necessarily in a natural direction.
Second understanding: Wealthy people are getting much and much wealthier
These days if you have a little money you can notice that it's much easier for you to make money compared to someone who doesn't have access to any funds. I don't have any problem with capitalism but it's getting out of control and need regulations to benefit the commoners from the growth of humans wealth much more than how it used to be before.
Third understanding: Technology is not the problem!
Yet again, the problem is not the technology itself but it is the people. Technology is making our day to day life like a blast compared to 100 years ago. Even though, these days it is actually making it harder since we should work longer hours and be much more educated in order to have food on our table. Nothing can describe the problem better than this comic:
Solution 1: Universal basic income?
Elon musk thinks universal basic income the the solution. It could be if the only problem with the growth of technology is that people would starve to death but as he noted later, it will kill the enthusiasm in people. We get our identity by our contribution in society and our careers define the meaning of life for many of us. How can we live with the idea of robots taking over all the jobs and we are living our lives as a burden to the whole world and universe. Rich people are already rich and they are free to pass the money to their children, but it would be impossible for others who lose the race to become rich again. Robots are already better and smartest and they are only providing value to their creators (corporates, governments etc). You may argue that humans becoming cyborgs and combining with technology is the solution, but I doubt it. It's still much cheaper to run a new robot compared to making a normal human functions like a robot. Why would they do that?
Solution 2: Maybe Steem can help?
It's a long way and it's not going to happen over night. However, combining the idea of incentivizing people based on their little contribution with decentralized, government-less technology of blockchain can bring new hopes to humans to feel valuable in the future crisis. We understand that regulation for corporates are not going to happen from governments since they are looking for short-term profits so the only solution would be to take over the economy from the corporate world and move it in the direction of blockchains. In this world, people can use smart contracts and incentivizing platforms to change the direction of technology growth in a way that is most profitable for humans. Corporates wouldn't disappear, however humans can control their own resources and use the technology in a way that keep the benefits to the masses.
This post is just written as a way to start the conversation. I understand that my ideas are raw and not well researched. However, it can be the way of keeping the world in peace and harmony in my opinion and I would love to hear yours.
With love and respect :-)