Comrade, there is an important distinction to be made between "work" that includes physical activity, social interaction, creativity, purpose, and growth v. "work" that is for mere survival and furtherance of capitalistic gains. The former can be a boon to one's overall health and quality of life, whereas the latter is merely a stop-gap between complete decay. In general though, being idle is detrimental to one's health and quality of life. Monkey brain needs stimulation.

i'd go further than stimulation, and restate it as monkey brain needs struggle, or at the very least challenge.

it's hard for me to envision a world in which people are need receiving the minimum level of "challenge" without a lion's share of that being "struggle". what else challenges human beings at an adequate level for a span of a working adult life if not struggle? while the masses in jobs that are not made a struggle to feed capitalist overlords find an adequate amount of challenge in their life elsewhere? while they, on average, seek to culture themselves with philosophy and art? well philosophy mostly deals with inequality, which that world seeks to eliminate. and art is empowered by struggle, built on struggle and pain.

i see that road leading toward Wall-E, an unbreakable relationship with the practice of removal of struggle and increase of sedimentary depression and lethargy. all while prolonging lifespan.

its a trade off really, to alleviate the worst outcomes for the most unfortunate we also remove the thing that drives those in the middle, to remove the greedy incentives for those at the top. the bottom's happy, the top's furious, and the middle are largely left without a driving purpose. as someone in automation ive seen this coming a long time out. we're headed towards a utopia many while be upset to find themselves in.

Create your own struggle.

Challenge for the sake of challenge is something humans engage in all the time. Ain't nobody making money by beating Spyro The Dragon in under 2 hours.

Struggle will never be eliminated, even with automation.

This post was edited by NetflixAdaptationWidow on Mar 16 2023 01:06pm

I have hope or even confidence that advice works on the micro level, i had serious doubts it works out on the macro level.

Humans should be free to pursue their own passions

We know that despondency, substance abuse, and crime comes from social and economic issues. People who are well adjusted as a result of stable and loving families will cope well with circumstance. Not having to slave for 40 hours isn't going to destroy the human spirit.

This post was edited by NetflixAdaptationWidow on Mar 16 2023 02:06pm

we can't use a state humans have never really been in en masse (free to pursue passions) as a forecast for a lack of substance abuse specifically. crime, sure i get that. but if people live a sedimentary life i predict more, not less, substance abuse. some people will get really passionate about getting fucked up. and it does happen in anecdotal cases, 1950s housewives, trust fund kids, etc.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Mar 16 2023 02:23pm

1950s housewives were pretty limited in what they were allowed to do. Trust fund kids have their own issues... typically distant parents and expectations that limit what they're allowed to pursue.

The data on this is pretty clear from the literature on addiction and substance abuse. Even when freely available abuse is rare if your other needs are met, including emotional needs.

This post was edited by NetflixAdaptationWidow on Mar 16 2023 02:26pm

I agree that's where the data points given our modern society. i just dont believe it's directly applicable to an entirely different society.

humans have been getting fucked up since someone accidentally ate the wrong mushroom or chowed down on some old fruit. we love altered states. in a fully automated world where we have unlimited free time i simply do not think its logical to see less drug abuse, but i wouldnt claim it would sky rocket either.

data shows a correlation between abuse/poverty and substance abuse. but i dont think its causal to the level that removal of those means removal of abuse, or even a drastic decrease. but its just my opinion, i dont have hard evidence.

The removal of poverty would absolutely result in a massive drop of abuse.

People like getting fucked up but people don't like getting so fucked up it destroys their life. It's a coping mechanism.

Abuse will never go away because people will always be shitty to each other in some way or another, but there is absolutely no doubt a reduction of poverty would drastically reduce abuse

I am retired and my life is fantastic, i am either travelling, fishing, hiking or playing video games pretty much all the time.