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Author Danaher, John, author.

Title Automation and utopia : human flourishing in a world without work / John Danaher
Published Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2019

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Description 1 online resource (325 pages) : illustrations
Contents 1. The autumn of humanity -- Part I. Automation -- 2. The case for technological unemployment -- 3. Why you should hate your job -- 4. Giving techno-pessimism its due -- Part II. Utopia -- 5. In search of utopia -- 6. The cyborg utopia -- 7. The virtual utopia -- Epilogue: The unending quest
Summary Human obsolescence is imminent. The factories of the future will be dark, staffed by armies of tireless robots. The hospitals of the future will have fewer doctors, depending instead on cloud-based AI to diagnose patients and recommend treatments. The homes of the future will anticipate our wants and needs and provide all the entertainment, food, and distraction we could ever desire. To many, this is a depressing prognosis, an image of civilization replaced by its machines. But what if an automated future is something to be welcomed rather than feared? Work is a source of misery and oppression for most people, so shouldn't we do what we can to hasten its demise? Automation and Utopia makes the case for a world in which, free from need or want, we can spend our time inventing and playing games and exploring virtual realities that are more deeply engaging and absorbing than any we have experienced before, allowing us to achieve idealized forms of human flourishing. The idea that we should "give up" and retreat to the virtual may seem shocking, even distasteful. But John Danaher urges us to embrace the possibilities of this new existence. The rise of automating technologies presents a utopian moment for humankind, providing both the motive and the means to build a better future.-- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-311) and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (JSTOR platform, viewed November 21, 2019)
Subject Utopias.
Technological unemployment.
Quality of life.
Human security.
Forecasting.
Human-robot interaction.
Utopias
Quality of Life
Forecasting
quality of life.
PHILOSOPHY -- Social.
Forecasting
Human-robot interaction
Human security
Quality of life
Technological unemployment
Utopias
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9780674242203
0674242203
9780674242210
0674242211
9780674983403
0674983408