From: Chris Russo (extropy@russo.org)
Date: Tue Jan 30 2001 - 16:45:42 MST
At 14:08 -0600 1/30/01, Barbara Lamar wrote:
>At 09:30 AM 01/30/2001Chris Russo wrote:
>>The response was, "Well, laying the bricks is 'skilled' labor."
>>It's really hard to keep a straight face in that country. The real
>>reason was that they have a comfortable little male-dominated
>>society, and they weren't interested in rocking their lazy-ass boat.
>
>I think things are changing as more women go to school, especially
>universities. One educated woman can have a lot of influence among
>other women.
I hope you're right. One of the best programmers we did have in our
office there was a woman. Our Indian office manager was a little
scandalized when we made her a project leader, and the other men had
to report to her. Not only did the fact that she was female
intimidate them, but she was Muslim to boot. :)
>>I could spend days detailing my experiences there and those of my
>>coworkers, but suffice it to say that India's problems aren't some
>>big magical mystery. They're not just the fault of their
>>government or their large population or the evil Western World.
>>It's a failure of the individuals of their society who embrace a
>>culture of ignorance, corruption, and getting the "other guy" to do
>>their work for them.
>
>Based on what you saw of life in India, Chris, what effect do you
>think a guraranteed income would have on individuals (assuming that
>such a thing were possible at no cost to anyone else, such as with
>nanotechnology)?
Would they stand on that bedrock to try to do more with their lives
in terms of achieving educational and career goals? Or would
standing around talking to their friends be what they'd do every day
of their lives - because they could.
If the very act of getting food for themselves and their families
isn't motivation enough for some people, how much motivation will
those same people have in life when even food isn't a concern?
I think that if you gave everyone in India who is starving a
"limitless" supply of food, you'd see a population explosion there of
unimaginable proportions. How far will even miraculous
nanotechnology be able to be stretched before we once again have
people starving?
I believe that most of mankind's societal problems are self
inflicted, and that no matter how miraculous the technology that we
discover, we won't achieve the kind of "world problem solving"
progress that has been discussed in this thread until we change
ourselves.
Regards,
Chris Russo
--
"If anyone can show me, and prove to me, that I am wrong in thought
or deed, I will gladly change. I seek the truth, which never yet
hurt anybody. It is only persistence in self-delusion and ignorance
which does harm."
-- Marcus Aurelius, MEDITATIONS, VI, 21
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