Star Trek Replicators

[nc-1701]

If we assume that these devices have Star Trek style limitations and are not true infinite free/energy matter, then there is no reason our economies could not continue.

Replicators in Star Trek are not capable of replicating things larger than them (totally reasonable limitation to expect), require large amounts of energy (another reasonable assumption for our replicators), cannot replicate advanced technologies or people, and regularly break down.

Just to name a few major economic industries which will continue on in post replicator society:
Entertainment (especially live entertainment, you can't replicate a whole concert in your bedroom.)
Services (Anything done by people, doctors, lawyers, teachers, massage therapists, etc.)
Construction and heavy manufacturing (If we assume everyone has a microwave sized household replicator they still can't replicate themselves a car, large companies that invest in larger replicators will produce cars, and obviously houses or malls are too big to replicate and will need to be assembled out of replicated components.)
Restaurants, bars, ski resorts, etc. (All are more than just food or a little now and can't be replicated in your kitchen.)
Mining and energy (Exceedingly important for powering replicators.)
Replicator Repair (If it's anything like Star Trek they will break constantly.)
Prostitution (World's oldest profession won't be going anywhere.)
Professional Sports.
etc.
Fact is very little of our economy is actually based on making trinkets which could be easily done by replicators. Instead a great deal of it involves human actions which can' be easily replaced.

 

[Greizer85]

Just to name a few major economic industries which will continue on in post replicator society:
Entertainment (especially live entertainment, you can't replicate a whole concert in your bedroom.)

There could be holo-shows, eventually... But I concede that it's not the same as the real thing.

Services (Anything done by people, doctors, lawyers, teachers, massage therapists, etc.)

Yes, these would be needed, as I've said before. They'd be even more valued since matter would be worthless... However you must not underestimate people's goodwill, if everyone could be rich in a material sense.

Construction and heavy manufacturing (If we assume everyone has a microwave sized household replicator they still can't replicate themselves a car, large companies that invest in larger replicators will produce cars, and obviously houses or malls are too big to replicate and will need to be assembled out of replicated components.)

Everyone could easily have a big replicator (well, we'd have to define some limit... People in cities would have to share their unit with others. But the need for cities would largely by gone ofc.). You know, we could just make a real huge one and use that to make the big ones for virtually no cost.

As for houses, well, you could make them out of elements. Still, not everyone has the skills to properly make houses out of them. Specialists would have to be employed, yes. But houses would be much cheaper than they are today.

Restaurants, bars, ski resorts, etc. (All are more than just food or a little now and can't be replicated in your kitchen.)

I hadn't thought about this one. Mainly because I never go out myself. Well, they count as elaborate services. You could make a ski resort with a big enough replicator... But the snow would ofc disappear quickly unless you made more of it constantly.

Mining and energy (Exceedingly important for powering replicators.)

Well, there's no need to mine, as such. You just point at the ground and the replicator 'digs' a hole in it. If you'd need to put stuff in it, as into a microwave, it would be
a different matter altogether. Miners would have to be paid top credit, in order to keep them doing such hazardous work in a world of near-infinite abundance. But I imagine that if we ever invent such a wondrous device, this limitation will be trivial to overcome. As for energy, I've explained it a few times already. You'd still need maintenance on the solar panels and the transfer network, but not as much as ou need now - after all, broken parts or even whole panels/powerlines could simply be replicated.

Replicator Repair (If it's anything like Star Trek they will break constantly.)

Just use your neighbour's replicator to make a new one for yourself.

Prostitution (World's oldest profession won't be going anywhere.)

Service like any other. Or should I say no other?

Professional Sports. etc.

Counts as a service - well, if you charge the viewers.

Fact is very little of our economy is actually based on making trinkets which could be easily done by replicators. Instead a great deal of it involves human actions which can't be easily replaced.

But there's no need to grind in a day-job anymore in order to stay alive (or live with any kind of dignity, in the West). Wanting entertainment is quite different from needing food to survive. People's mood would move to new heights; intellectual pursuits would soar. There's no way to predict what would become of such a world. Violence would lessen significantly, as would drug-related problems... Goodwill might prevail to the extent that the cost of services would be quite marginal. People would be in their profession for fun, not for sheer survival. There is the problem of who would do menial tasks, though... We would probably need robots for that, or give high credits for them.

 

[Abaddon]

Just pointing out, there are only so many service jobs... what would people do to earn credits? We could see massive unemployment...

 

[Kozmos]

Population reduction is way overdue anyway. Alternative is everyone gets booted to agricultural jobs.

 

[Abaddon]

Agriculture wouldn't exist anymore. We would replicate all our food.

With endless food.. would man expand and populate all of the globe?

Or would my unemployment problem mean a collapse in society?

Also.. poverty is unavoidable. "Water" is essentially free in the modern world.. it's not in the undeveloped. How is this going to alter where "water" is "access to a replicator"?

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

there are only so many service jobs

What does that phrase mean, exactly?

We could see massive unemployment...

Adding to what Kozmos said, high quality of life often leads to way less children born.

 

[Greizer85]

Dude... People could make more replicators (assuming they could be replicated ofc) and gift those to the poor folks. I'd frankly abandon all faith in the human race if that wasn't the case. Furthermore, they'd only need one replicator and could make the rest by themselves using it.

As for unemployment - do you think people would not find things to do without their slavish grinding? That they wouldn't be paid for it would be of no concern. It gets boring to simply wallow in matter after a while. Sure, there is the problem that some people might not get enough credits to be able to afford doctors or teachers - but what is stopping the state from enacting welfare programs just as in the current world? I'd say being on welfare is not so demeaning if you live in a McMansion with five sport cars, plasma tvs, golden doorknobs, etc. In fact this could lead to some bizarre situations... People could own a vault full of gold and not be able to afford a freakin' manicure!

 

[Tabster]

How fast do these replicators work? is it instantly or not? I think this will have a big effect on how much actually changes.

If the speed of replication is slow, then the number of replicators you have access to would be a kind of wealth - you would have more choices if you had more replicators.

If the speed was slow and you only had one replicator, you might only be able to supply your self with food and other basic essentials, never being able to accumulate more you would stay 'poor'

Land would still be a finite resource so your vault would alway be worth more than the gold in it. The size of the vault alone would indicate wealth, whatever was in it would be 'immaterial'

 

[hossam]

can the replicator replicate women? specifically, hot women who only want to have sex?

 

[Maniacal]

I'd kill for one of those replicators.

Just as seriously, while the replicators would still continue to mass-produce art, true unique pieces of art would still remain very valuable. As well I am sure there could be stuff coded into the replicators to prevent them from scanning certain items, though there would continue to be a fight between the replication company(s) and people hacking the things.

 

[bestrfcplayer]

With Replicators, we could easly end world hunger and poverty, and so forth...

 

[Abaddon]

What does that phrase mean, exactly? Adding to what Kozmos said, high quality of life often leads to way less children born.

You need employment. You need to be able to generate credits to pay for what you can't do yourself. There are not an infinite need for plumbers, doctors etc. There would be more people than jobs available. Like or not, you need a job.

Dude... People could make more replicators (assuming they could be replicated ofc) and gift those to the poor folks. I'd frankly abandon all faith in the human race if that wasn't the case. Furthermore, they'd only need one replicator and could make the rest by themselves using it.

Humans are greedy, not generous. Also, a replicator can only make a SMALLER replicator.. so its diminishing in its returns.

As for unemployment - do you think people would not find things to do without their slavish grinding? That they wouldn't be paid for it would be of no concern. It gets boring to simply wallow in matter after a while. Sure, there is the problem that some people might not get enough credits to be able to afford doctors or teachers - but what is stopping the state from enacting welfare programs just as in the current world? I'd say being on welfare is not so demeaning if you live in a McMansion with five sport cars, plasma tvs, golden doorknobs, etc. In fact this could lead to some bizarre situations... People could own a vault full of gold and not be able to afford a freakin' manicure!

Who pays for the welfare? How?

People need to be able to earn money.

 

[Kozmos]

Agriculture wouldn't exist anymore. We would replicate all our food.

With endless food.. would man expand and populate all of the globe?

Or would my unemployment problem mean a collapse in society?

Also.. poverty is unavoidable. "Water" is essentially free in the modern world.. it's not in the undeveloped. How is this going to alter where "water" is "access to a replicator"?

I doubt you could replicate food from basic carbon atoms. Agriculture will still be a important factor. I'm not even sure you can replicate water...you could however build massive desalination plants for chump change and solve the water problem in that manner.

 

[Greizer85]

You need employment. You need to be able to generate credits to pay for what you can't do yourself. There are not an infinite need for plumbers, doctors etc. There would be more people than jobs available. Like or not, you need a job.

Do you not think that with all that free time, people would not be able to come up with new services? They'd have all their free time for innovation, and loads of free time!

Humans are greedy, not generous. Also, a replicator can only make a SMALLER replicator.. so its diminishing in its returns.

Humans are greedy for matter now, because it is valuable. It's called scarcity, you know. Besides, even now people give for charity, even if it's not a very large amount.

It's true that the replicated replicators would be smaller than the original one. How much, would depend on the specifics, which we cannot know. However - just gift each poor country a few really huge ones, and they can make the househould replicators themselves. Have the process supervised by UN troops if necessary.

Who pays for the welfare? How?

Have you heard of taxes, my friend? They're the solution to everything, even in a post-scarcity world!

People need to be able to earn money.

They will be. Doctors still need massages, singers need vacations, clowns need prostitutes, etc. What is considered luxury now would become the norm in this brave new world... New services would be invented that would be even more expensive than the current luxurious ones. If it is true what you say, and people wouldn't have enough imagination to come up with new services (which I seriously doubt), well, there'd be more welfare bums than employed people. ...Print, erm, digitalize, more credits?

Edit: Btw, if replicators ever stopped working for some odd reason, after we've gotten used to them - I doubt humanity would survive. No one would know how to do anything... Only some fundamentalists would survive - who'd think replicating is an abomination to the Lord ("Usurpers of Paradise", would be a good name for a novel about this!), and would preserve their old skills. But their farms would be overran by starving ex-replicato.. nists? What do we call someone who uses a replicator? They couldn't be called replicators themselves, that'd be just silly. I can't be silly on Sundays, not this early in the day.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

There would be more people than jobs available.

Would you mind plotting birth rate as a function of HDI? Please tell me what you see.

 

[onedreamer]

More than needed to replicate? Doubtful.

sorry but this is laughable. What is the point of replicating something if the replication costs the same or even more than just producing it ?

 

[Greizer85]

sorry but this is laughable. What is the point of replicating something if the replication costs the same or even more than just producing it ?

Have you heard of mines, miners, roads, roadbuilders, trucks, drivers, factories, factoryworkers, bureaucrats, inspectors, delivery vans, delivery van drivers, stores, store staff, night guards, day guards, customers, customers' vehicles, traffic cops, road repair crews, fluffers, catering, "recreation", supervisers? Me neither.

 

[Bill3000]

Replicators already exist. I was working with one yesterday.

 

[Moff Jerjerrod]

Ever terminate a replicant?

 

[onedreamer]

Have you heard of mines, miners, roads, roadbuilders, trucks, drivers, factories, factoryworkers, bureaucrats, inspectors, delivery vans, delivery van drivers, stores, store staff, night guards, day guards, customers, customers' vehicles, traffic cops, road repair crews, fluffers, catering, "recreation", supervisers? Me neither.

have you ever heard of a serious answer ? Not from you for sure.