Climate Change and Conflict
Since my GIST has a focus on conflict I feel that looking at all aspects that cause conflict are fair game.
I have been reading a book about Science and its potential impact on the future of human society. The book is entitled Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100. Looooong title by the author, Michio Kaku, who I have seen host or contribute to many different science and space documentaries on Netflix has a number of interesting case studies - some of which are already outdated as the technology is here now. However, one passage caught my attention for its social implications. Though most of this book would offer a full years discussion on various causes of conflict that will potentially emerge in the future, the issue of technology replacing humans in the work force is of particular interest to me. But I jump ahead. Here is the passage: "The majority of visits to the doctor's office can be eliminated in this way, greatly relieving the stress on our health care system. If the problem is serious, the robodoc will recommend that you go to a hospital, where human doctors can provide intensive care. But even there, you will see AI [artificial intelligent] programs, in the form of robot nurses... These robot nurses are not truly intelligent but can move from one hospital room to another, administer the proper medicines to patients, and attend to their other needs..." (pg. 89) OK, so why did this jump out at me? As technology increases, it can benefit society and help people. Preventative care would definitely become cheaper and so would health care costs where most routine functions are covered by medical robots. This is great for the short term as most of the developed world is looking at a gross surplus of the aged in the next two decades that far exceeds the young. However we still have a global population surplus world wide and a large unemployment rate in even the developed societies. How can society re-absorb these thousands of former employees? It is estimated that technology evolves every 18 months. Taking into account the amount of time it takes for society to absorb this new technology, which provides a little more of a lag time, can society keep up with the pace of change? Can new industries and areas of employment be created and displaced people retrained and put back to work at a fast enough rate to keep up with technological replacements? Or do we as a society have to choose to not implement the technology fully in order to allow people to retain their jobs, even if it means sacrificing efficiency and I higher standard of care (in the specific example of nursing robots and doctors)? Or is there a third alternative? (besides turning back the clock and not innovating. I refuse to believe that that is a viable option) Just a question. Anyone have any thoughts?
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AuthorI'm Dan. Climate Change and Conflict. Archives
April 2015
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