The new Beerfarer

Mudhawk

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I can't say I trust the utility or longevity of that thing.
Obviously I want one...
 
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Thalstan

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What would I want from a "droid" in real life. By this, I mean the type of "droid" envisioned by George Lucas in the Star Wars universe
What would YOU want?

Help with tasks beyond the mental. By this, I mean while having a mobile Siri/Alexa/whatever is nice, we already have it on our phone, etc. A droid for simply that purpose would not make sense to me. Seriously, C-3P0's six million forms of communication could probably be replaced by the Republic version of Siri and you would not have to listen to it shouting OH-MY, Goodness Gracious Me, Do be careful R2. We're Doomed! etc. every time that something went wrong.

In addition, R2's computer hacking skills could probably be replaced by a USB tool.

Therefore, it must be able to do something. Be it carry something, be able to use a tool, or perform some autonomous task. Independent and autonomous repair work, hauling something around, something.
It must be able to communicate with the handler at a basic level and all the way up to the level of an average human. In other words, it has to have an intelligence of at least dog level up to average human level.

So, let's consider some options.
Cook - the droid/cylon/whatever, must be able to take raw ingredients that exist and turn them into food. At a basic level, it would be able to follow directions exactly, but without the need for supervision. At more advanced levels, it must be capable of improvising smartly on a recipe. For instance, if you are out of orange juice and tequila for a tequila sunrise, it would not substitute Lemon Juice and Whiskey. Instead it might notice that there was lemon juice, sugar, water, maraschino cherries in syrup available and suggest what I call a "Lemon Sunset (Lemonade, maraschino cherry juice, and a single maraschino cherry. Or if you were out of whiskey for a Manhattan, but you had Brandy, it might offer you a Brandy Manhattan.

Repair/mechanic - It could plug into your OBD/2 outlet in your car and tell you what was wrong. It could then examine the car and be able to perform repairs provided appropriate replacement parts were available.

Laborer - it would be able to straighten and keep your house clean. Maintain your yard, etc. Example, a fully autonomous multi-attachment lawn mower that has a weed eater, edger, tree/bush trimmer, week puller/fruit picker.

Perform a job. For example, it could be a Butler and organize simpler droids (for example, cooking droids, cleaning droids, etc.), maintain your schedule, receive guests and show them in and out, and in general perform the tasks you need assistance with.

Personally, I would love to have a Butler. Think Wadsworth from Clue...only nice, Alfred, etc. to help me organize my day and do tasks that need to be done.

WITH REGARDS TO THE VIDEO....
The minimum I would want from a glorified tool bucket is the ability to load up on tools and then for the droid to be able to provide me with the correct tool when asked. 10mm socket on a 1/4 inch socket drive with 3 inch extension please. Just being able to follow you around and hold tools would not be quite enough.
 
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Shadow Reaper

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I agree. In fact I would say we’re on the path that robots like the Tesla Optimus are intended to do everything except replace familial relationships. Handing over parenting or spousal relations would be a disaster for the human race. We already have far too many problems from things like inadequate quantity of parenting time.

As an aside, there is a truly wonderful vid about this.

What I am unsure about is the issue of replacement in the workplace. It’s easy to see a positive outcome from this. The mid-level manager at McDonalds will be freed up to run a location alone if he or she buys first one, then three, then five robots and teaches them all the job. Once he has taught them enough, he’s free to open another franchise and another. I think this is how robot replacement of workers will go. I just don’t know how fast it will go. I think it may go lightning fast—so fast it shocks us.

Musk is saying he believes the generation of wealth will be so rapid that within ten years there will not only be a basic human income, but that “basic” will be extravagant, meaning much more than most people make right now. He’s envisioning a future where most people don’t work at all. I’m not sure that’s healthy, but it may well be where we’re all headed regardless. One thing is for sure—Musk is planning for robots to do the overwhelming majority of work on Mars, and he’s planning to send them 26 months before any humans. So really the sky is the limit.

Except. . .I would be remiss to not note, this work free utopia will have a high cost. It rips meaning out of life. How many here would revert to the virtual and simply lead a life free of responsibility and purpose? There is great wisdom in the curse in Genesis 3 “you shall work by the sweat of your brow”. (A more mystic and epistemic passage there is not.) How then when we finally try to cast off the curse? We cannot thwart God’s designs. Hence comes the end of the age methinks. Truly I fear, “you will not find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”, bringing judgement day.

For answers about this, read your bibles.
 
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Thalstan

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Jun 5, 2016
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Thalstan
I agree. In fact I would say we’re on the path that robots like the Tesla Optimus are intended to do everything except replace familial relationships. Handing over parenting or spousal relations would be a disaster for the human race. We already have far too many problems from things like inadequate quantity of parenting time.

As an aside, there is a truly wonderful vid about this.

What I am unsure about is the issue of replacement in the workplace. It’s easy to see a positive outcome from this. The mid-level manager at McDonalds will be freed up to run a location alone if he or she buys first one, then three, then five robots and teaches them all the job. Once he has taught them enough, he’s free to open another franchise and another. I think this is how robot replacement of workers will go. I just don’t know how fast it will go. I think it may go lightning fast—so fast it shocks us.

Musk is saying he believes the generation of wealth will be so rapid that within ten years there will not only be a basic human income, but that “basic” will be extravagant, meaning much more than most people make right now. He’s envisioning a future where most people don’t work at all. I’m not sure that’s healthy, but it may well be where we’re all headed regardless. One thing is for sure—Musk is planning for robots to do the overwhelming majority of work on Mars, and he’s planning to send them 26 months before any humans. So really the sky is the limit.

Except. . .I would be remiss to not note, this work free utopia will have a high cost. It rips meaning out of life. How many here would revert to the virtual and simply lead a life free of responsibility and purpose? There is great wisdom in the curse in Genesis 3 “you shall work by the sweat of your brow”. (A more mystic and epistemic passage there is not.) How then when we finally try to cast off the curse? We cannot thwart God’s designs. Hence comes the end of the age methinks. Truly I fear, “you will not find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”, bringing judgement day.

For answers about this, read your bibles.
A work free utopia would not be work free if it was a utopia...but instead of working doing something you hate so you can eat, you can do what you want.

Now, I am not saying do nothing. But I see the work being reduced to the creative side so that those who have to create (and this would include many engineers), have the ability to do so. Those what love to nurture would have the ability to spend that time nurturing, be it kids, seniors, crops, or wild animals. Those that love to inspire could also do so.

That said, a Utopia where people had everything handed to them could lead to Behavioral Sink. This was a term that was invented to describe the experiments where a scientist (John B. Calhoun) created a series of "Rat Utopias" where rats were given everything they wanted. Abundences, of food, water, etc. that allowed for unfettered growth....ultimately, every single one of those utopias collapsed.

Here is a Wiki on the issue, but the research is very interesting if you want to delve deep into the matter.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink

In other words, a Utopia where people don't have to do anything ISN'T a Utopia...it's a death sentence for the population. Instead, a Utopia need to provide the outlet that people need in their lives.

The old adage is still true...Do what you love and you never work a day in your life. I love my job, what I do, and it's important work that helps people both in North America, and also around the world. That said, not many people would thrive on the pressure of 400 million people depending on you to do your job right...because if I don't, those same 400 million would suffer horrible consequences, including a not insignificant number of deaths. My niece is a nurse in a Level 1 trauma center for that specializes in pediatric care. Her doing her job means more kids get to live to be adults. It's an important job, but not one I could do myself, despite my love of working under pressure.
 
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Shadow Reaper

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Yes, I agree with all of that; and I think Musk does too. He actually mentioned that he thinks some will choose to work and others not.

I am just owning that life is markedly changed these last six decades. Relationships are dying. Romance is dying. Chivalry is dying. Marriage and family are dying. Love is growing cold. Suicide is way up. All psychological disorders are way up. Drug use is up. Psychosis is up. Personal violence is up. Narcissism is up. Maturity, responsibility, capability, competency and integrity are all way, way, way down.

None of these things will be fixed by universal income and that income seems to me will make the problems much worse. Yes, there will be a remnant that will rise above, but civilization can’t thrive on the efforts of a tiny remnant. Hundreds of millions will plug into Star Citizen and check out from life, and hundreds of millions more will flock to Oblivion. Sex robots will become popular and we’ll all ignore the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. Horrible, violent, backward, hateful ideologies and religions will flourish. People will flock back to occultism and drinking blood. No, I’m not joking.

People do not understand how unfit we are for utopia, and what that fact ultimately requires.

Robots cannot fix our real problems. We’re broken. That’s why there has to be an end to this age. Thank God he has a fix.

I don’t mean to sound so dire, but I sure didn’t expect a philosophical answer to the observation of a beer cooler robot.
 
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