3.291 effects of MIPS, cont. (25)
Willard McCarty (MCCARTY@VM.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA)
Wed, 26 Jul 89 19:40:15 EDT
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 3, No. 291. Wednesday, 26 Jul 1989.
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 89 13:22:23 CDT
From: "Kevin L. Cope" <ENCOPE@LSUVM>
Subject: Japanese Monster Computer
Mr. McSwain points out that increased computing power will put many white-
collar experts out of work. Could it be that computers have done TOO good a
job? Perhaps they have reduced labor to the point that most people, including
academics, don't need to work 40 hours per week. One down-side of the
expansion of career opportunities to persons of all genders and ethnic groups
is that we now have to find more things for more people to do--one of those
things-to-do being finding a way to reduce the total amount of work in the
world! Perhaps what HUMANISTS need to do is help to position the academy as
the ultimate leisure industry. The success of adult-education programs proves
that people will pay for what T. S. Eliot calls superior amusements. Can't
we offer people the option of passing their time in an interesting, if not
mechanically productive, manner?