Should we raise social benefits?

[ratewhore]

Ah, but there will still be a range of genius-smart-average-stupid-subnormal. We’ll just have chavs who can actually spell ‘special brew’, but in relative terms will be just as useless.

You're assuming ability is linked to intelligence.

We (the human race), are not as smart as we think we are. Recent events such as Haiti and Chile prove that is so...

[EternalOptimist]

The Egyptians had this problem. too much food, too many people, big army, not enough for the plebs to do.

Lets build a pyramid in Lancashire

[doodab]

You're assuming ability is linked to intelligence.

We (the human race), are not as smart as we think we are. Recent events such as Haiti and Chile prove that is so...

I'm pretty sure that earthquakes aren't attributable to human error.

[TimberWolf]

The lowly paid add more to society than the other echelons you describe IMO and are too undervalued. They clean toilets, stack shelves, empty bins, look after the old, etc, and support the highly paid's lifestyle for little remuneration. The wealth gap between the rich and people who work is worrying.

[Mich the Tester]

We should have a war against sentient robots. That will give us all something to do...

Ah, but what if many of us are getting rich from designing and testing the sentient robots?

[Moscow Mule]

Ah, but what if many of us are getting rich from designing and testing the sentient robots?

Rich is comparative.

You can't spend your riches if your robot has ripped off your head and shat down your neck.

[ratewhore]

I'm pretty sure that earthquakes aren't attributable to human error.

I'm not saying they are. I'm saying that, just because someone can't programme a computer or read law does not mean they have no ability. But we may be more equal than you like to think when faced with a major problem.

Self-discipline and motivation, that's a different matter...

[doodab]

The lowly paid add more to society than the other echelons you describe IMO and are too undervalued. They clean toilets, stack shelves, empty bins, look after the old, etc, and support the highly paid's lifestyle for little remuneration. The wealth gap between the rich and people who work is worrying.

I don't think he's talking about people with low paid jobs, he's talking about people who are too stupid, lazy or feckless to contribute to society in the way you describe.

I agree the widening gap between rich and poor is disturbing. I think labour should be given equal status to capital when it comes to reaping the benefits of human endevour.

[doodab]

Rich is comparative.

You can't spend your riches if your robot has ripped off your head and shat down your neck.

I don't think a robot that needed a tulip would be a very good design.

[Mich the Tester]

You're assuming ability is linked to intelligence.

We (the human race), are not as smart as we think we are. Recent events such as Haiti and Chile prove that is so...

But in a way those events prove my point. I’m not going to suggest the average Haitian is dumber than the average Chilean because I don't think that's the case, but I would suggest that Chileans have a better education system and their government is a more intellectual elite, whereas in Haiti the government is an elite of force. In Chile, a relatively small number of people have been killed, because the clever people designed houses that can cope with earthquakes and employed the relatively skilled people to build them. In Haiti the clever people enriched themselves but left the rest of the people to rot, living in homes that were not able to withstand an earthquake. Consequence; 100 times as many deaths in Haiti as in Chile. Chile’s economy will recover fairly quickly, Haiti’s won’t, so ultimately the rich people in Haiti have destroyed the basis of their own wealth by neglecting the needs of the many.