The Second Machine Age (2MA)

Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a time of Brilliant Technologies

Eric Brynjolfsson, Andrew McAfee 2014 Norton Bvtn 303.483 Bry


The main concern of this book is that jobs are lost to software, and that prospects for high-school dropouts are bleak - a college degree is required even for low-skill jobs, because rote and clerical work is done by machine.

Steam replaced muscle labor (and horses, and hostlers). The transition occured slowly enough for new work to be created. However, the downside was that children could run the machines - and did.

The current transition is replacing rote brainwork much, much faster than cultural and training evolution. Machines have become cheaper to train than people. Adults who learn no more than children have little to contribute.


Keith's prescription

Reverse government policies that foster intellectual decay

SecondMachine (last edited 2016-09-09 22:26:56 by KeithLofstrom)