(EF45) Purposeless
What will happen if work dries up but doesn’t get replaced with anything?
Giving people money doesn’t solve sadness, boredom, or lack of value. It feeds the belly but starves the soul.
Episode EF45 is dedicated to John Rawls, a philosopher known for his theories testing the plausibility of liberal society becoming a place of equal fairness and opportunity, despite the diversity of worldviews that society encompasses. His Original Position thought experiment provides a key understanding how any individual would behave when faced with the reality of social inequality made personal.
DEDICATION: Episode EF45 is dedicated to John Rawls, a philosopher known for his theories testing the plausibility of liberal society becoming a place of equal fairness and opportunity, despite the diversity of worldviews that society encompasses. His Original Position thought experiment provides a key understanding how any individual would behave when faced with the reality of social inequality made personal.
INSPIRATIONS: Episode EF45 is further inspired by … Karl Marx, Adam Smith, Andrew Yang, John Maynard Keynes, Bernie Sanders
In a post-work society governed by an artificial intelligence corporation, John Weber is the creator of an illegal virtual world called Silk that is cloaked in secrecy. Accused that Silk is causing VR overdoses that leave players in debt or even dead, Weber is forced to negotiate with the government’s representative, Karl Shultz. Although the premise for the meeting is to find a mutually beneficial resolution, it quickly becomes clear that both parties have more nefarious ulterior motives. Although many people wish they didn’t have to work, we rarely think about how important work is to our well being outside of the obvious financial benefits. What if the problem isn’t the work itself, but the way the system is organized? If there was a way to create a perfectly equal society — like the one John Rawls proposed in his brilliant Veil of Ignorance thought experiment — would people pursue careers around the things they loved instead of just chasing money? And would this have the power to reinvent society around an entirely new type of capitalism of shared value, instead of individual gain?
EF45 (S2-E6): Weaving Society’s Web: Purpose in a Future Without Work Read More »
Season Two, Episode Six: Cocooned in webs of lies about happiness and freedom, many people overwork, chained to careers they despise. Would a society without work function and also make people happier? Or would it fail because work is one of the most meaningful human pursuits?
The big question driving episode EF49 is … What is the meaning of work?
Why this stuff and not some other stuff? For example, why is alcohol legal and marijuana is not in most places? Or what if meditation had swept the globe instead of praying to gods? How would the world look if society chose different ‘stuff’ to call acceptable?