So what would be running water? What's the next leap forward in terms of basic human needs? I can think of a few possibilities:
- Cheap housing
- Cheap medical care
- Dramatic reduction of
modern diseases like obesity & heart disease
- Less social isolation
- Dramatically reduced working hours
- Dramatic increases in happiness/life satisfaction/optimism
- Reversal of climate change/resilience to environmental disasters
- Dramatically improved stewardship of the environment (part of resiliency)
But I'm not sure there's any product that can be developed by a corporation to bring about these changes. I think we have the physical abilities/technology to accomplish these, but we're lacking the social/psychological/political ability. Much of the population could indeed lower their working hours if they weren't so busy paying for large houses, stuff to fill them up, cars, etc. And replacing those things with skills (cooking, repair) and physical activity (walking, biking) again could reduce housing costs, health care costs, and obesity/cardiovascular disease while hugely reducing our environmental impact. Cutting out TV/digital addictions, playing sports instead, and going car-free/walkable/bikable could give us more socialization, satisfaction, and health. Have we as a society bargained with the devil, forgoing these advances for ever-increasing consumption, productivity, and the hedonic treadmill?
(I've been reading Early Retirement Extreme and thinking about what to do with my life.)
So what would be running water? What's the next leap forward in terms of basic human needs? I can think of a few possibilities:
- Cheap housing
- Cheap medical care
- Dramatic reduction of modern diseases like obesity & heart disease
- Less social isolation
- Dramatically reduced working hours
- Dramatic increases in happiness/life satisfaction/optimism
- Reversal of climate change/resilience to environmental disasters
- Dramatically improved stewardship of the environment (part of resiliency)
But I'm not sure there's any product that can be developed by a corporation to bring about these changes. I think we have the physical abilities/technology to accomplish these, but we're lacking the social/psychological/political ability. Much of the population could indeed lower their working hours if they weren't so busy paying for large houses, stuff to fill them up, cars, etc. And replacing those things with skills (cooking, repair) and physical activity (walking, biking) again could reduce housing costs, health care costs, and obesity/cardiovascular disease while hugely reducing our environmental impact. Cutting out TV/digital addictions, playing sports instead, and going car-free/walkable/bikable could give us more socialization, satisfaction, and health. Have we as a society bargained with the devil, forgoing these advances for ever-increasing consumption, productivity, and the hedonic treadmill?
(I've been reading Early Retirement Extreme and thinking about what to do with my life.)