20180127 Adam Smith Thread
From Reference #1:
Page 1027 Paragraph from “”If it should be found impracticable...”
Because this is the second to last page of “The Wealth of Nations” (Reference #1) I will change to considering only one sentence at a time, in order to extend as far as possible the benefit of using Mr. Smith's work as a foundation for this thread.
After having considered possible ways of increasing income to the nation of Great Britain, Mr. Smith now turns to the option of reducing expenses.
Before leaving the general theme of sources of income for a nation, I would like to point out that the search for answers to the need for income continues unabated in current times. I asked Google a question to challenge it's artificial intelligence, and although it did not serve back a specific answer, it did deliver a number of guesses about what might be resources to help. One of these was the web site:
http://www.oecd.org.
However, moving on to Mr. Smith's new focus, of reducing expenses, it seems to me that this too has been and must always be a concern for nations, organizations and even individuals.
Reference #4 was added to the inventory for this thread, because a book by the same author is on order.
Reference #4 was published ca 2005, so an update 12 years later should prove interesting and worth while.
However, since this work includes many of the elements of a future economy, both on the Earth and away from it, I think it is worth reviewing before the update arrives.
This book is not organized in chapters in the usual sense, so I'll identify the pages to be considered for each post here as “sections”
The “section” for this post is entitled “How to Make” … up to “Almost Anything” (Pages 1 - 17)
Because of the length of this section and its density, I'll highlight only a few elements:
On page 3...
Begin Quotation:
...what's being personalized is our physical world of atoms rather than the computer's digital world of bits.
End Quotation.
The entire theme of “FAB” is personal manufacturing, which I anticipate will become widely available in coming decades.
On page 4...
Begin Quotation:
If the world is a computer, then the science of computing is really the science of science.
End Quotation.
Humans have spent most of their millennia of self-awareness trying to understand their environment as an analog situation. It is only in recent centuries that the confirmation of atomic structure led to the ability to understand the environment as a digital one, albeit more fine grained than human senses can differentiate.
A central concept appears on page 4 …
Begin Quotation:
In “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, the replicator is an essential plot element that is capable of making whatever is needed for each episode.
End Quotation.
In that short statement, Dr. Gershenfeld captures the essence of the vision I share with (surely) millions of others, of a future within which physical objects can be created as needed by anyone without regard to social status. This state of affairs depends upon human mastery of atomic energy so that sufficient energy is available to meet everyone's basic needs, so that the incessant squabbling over scarce resources moves away from the physical realm and toward the psychological.
At the same time, I recognize the need to establish and to maintain a level of education and understanding of the digital manufacturing equipment and processes so that individuals can support themselves comfortably in an economy built around small digital manufacturing stations.
In developing a course on personalized manufacturing at MIT, Dr. Gershenfeld reports on page 7:
Begin Quotation:
...the learning process was driven by the demand for, rather than the supply of, knowledge.
End Quotation.
I like this sentiment in the context of Dr. Dartnell's forum.
In anticipation of an economy built upon personal manufacturing stations, Dr. Gershenfeld's observation about students may offer insight:
Begin Quotation on page 9
None of the students needed to convince anyone else of the value of their ideas; they just created them themselves.
End Quotation.
In an economy built upon digital manufacturing stations, I expect there would be negotiation for machine time between parties to meet different needs through exchange, just as humans have been doing for millennia. While individual human skill in hand crafting objects will surely remain a valued capability, the well being of an individual and dependents would not depend upon them. Instead, the ability to market machine time in negotiation with others will become the mark of greater or lesser success in meeting the needs of an individual and dependents.
In-as-much as stability of income is a critical factor in supporting the decision of a family to take the risk of creating and raising children, the ownership and management of personal manufacturing stations should increase confidence.
Later in this section, Dr. Gershenfeld considers the phenomenon of open source software. On page 15:
Begin Quotation:
In a world of open-source software, ownership of neither computers nor code alone provides the basis for a proprietary business model; what's left is the value added by creating content and delivering services.
End Quotation.
It seems likely to me that digital plans for objects will be created on an open-source basis, and shared between individuals. However, the risks of defective design, or of deliberately injurious design, will necessitate a rigorous inspection and certification process for such plans.
That said, it seems to me likely that just as open-source software can be studied and (potentially) improved by anyone in the world of 2018, digital object design plans will be studied and (potentially) improved by any member of society with access to the network used for sharing.
Also on page 15, Dr. Gershenfeld says:
Begin Quotation:
Similarly, possession of the means for industrial production has long been the dividing line between workers and owners.
End Quotation.
I have no doubt that not everyone in a future society based upon personal manufacturing stations will have ownership of such stations. The sources of power will most likely continue to be owned and controlled by individuals or groups, so unless an individual can acquire a source of power to support a personal manufacturing station, negotiation for power will be part of the economy.
Finally, materials themselves will (no doubt) be the subject of control and exchange just as they are now, and have (almost) always been. What I am seeing in the vision Dr. Gershenfeld is developing is a movement away from the gigantic organizations which have developed over recent centuries as a logical progression of capitalism writ large. Even entire nations controlled by command economies can be viewed as corporations which singlemindedly attempt to maximize their profits on the global stage.
On page 17, Dr. Gershenfeld concludes this section with the observation:
Begin Quotation:
Rather, the biggest limitation is simply the lack of knowledge that this is even possible. Hence this book.
End Quotation.
While the work of the MIT faculty and students in 2005 shows a path forward for an economy better able to distribute “the Dignity of Work” among the members of the population, we humans appear (to me at least) to be a long way from the goal.
In the next section of “FAB”, Dr. Gershenfeld continues with a section entitled “... Almost Anything”
(th)