Notices by 🇳🇴 Thor — backup account (thorthenorseman@octodon.social), page 34

@CobaltVelvet Ah, but my argument is not that capitalism is the only system that could ever work. My argument is merely a Darwinian one: It's hit a local maximum. It's definitely possible that there are global maximums we haven't encountered yet. These maximums, in my opinion, are determined by shape of the human collective psyche, so we should explore the space within it in order to find out what is workable and what isn't.

@CobaltVelvet In terms of software, you have Photoshop, and then you have GIMP. Now, for many people, GIMP is fine, but if you're doing pre-press work or are a photographer or graphic designer, you will very soon discover that it's no professional tool. The only decent alternative I've found to Photoshop is Affinity Photo, and that is also a commercial product. There are certain things volunteers don't bother to do, and you need to pay for.

@CobaltVelvet And, on average, a lack of money and competitive incentives seems, for the most part, to produce things that most people don't want, and have a somewhat limited audience. Exceptions exist. Plenty of shitty things have been built for extraordinarily large amounts of money, and plenty of good things have been built without money. But, if you pair competitiveness with a very keen eye for what the market demands, you can get some really good stuff.

@CobaltVelvet I don't quite share that experience, you see. From my vantage point, money is what seems to get shit done for the most part. I may not like it, but that's what I'm seeing everywhere I look.

@CobaltVelvet This refusal to understand and accept the human psyche is why idealists are unable to make lasting change. If the good guys employed what ad agencies, business men, etc, have known for hundreds of years, they'd get much further in their efforts.

@CobaltVelvet I'm not saying capitalism is great, or that we should idolise capitalists, or any of that. All I'm saying is that there are certain parameters at play, mostly set by human behaviour, that lead to these patterns developing, and we're never going to find a better system if we just continue arguing over whether or not people can change. It's much more effective to use applied psychology to make changes within the limitations of the human psyche.

@CobaltVelvet Competition is why small companies often have good products. Lack of competition is why large ones often have bad products. If you aren't trying to get ahead, the incentive to excel disappears. The space race was a competition, and it probably helped spur the Internet. Also, it got us to the moon. Competition is morally ambiguous. Sometimes it's good, at other times it's bad. Knives are the same way. They can cut a cucumber, or they can murder people.

@CobaltVelvet It's not uncommon for athletes to transition into business after retiring, and I think it's due to that innate competitiveness. They are always looking to win. They'll do some team work to win if necessary, but the ultimate goal is to basically be ahead of everyone else in whatever they do.

@CobaltVelvet The propaganda you speak of is not exclusive to capitalists. All humans rationalise their actions. Whatever it is they are doing, they seek a way to justify it. Even pedophiles find a way of justifying their behaviour. I think asking a capitalist to "just quit doing that" is not so different from asking an athlete to "just quit doing that". What athletes and capitalists have in common is that they are extremely competitive people.

@CobaltVelvet Or exploit a system if there's a way to exploit it. Capitalists are hackers of humans. Some are black hats, most are grey hats, and perhaps there are a few white hats, people who work within the system in order to change it.

@CobaltVelvet Again, I find it very useful to view humans a bit like a liquid, or electricity. If you create a path for it to flow, it will flow there. If there's a reservoir, it will pool up there. If there's a narrow gap and sufficient voltage, you will get a spark. Humans don't individually behave like that, but in large groups, they do. And there's always N people who will do a certain thing if it's possible to do so, like stuff ants down your pants.

@CobaltVelvet You may not have banks or cash, but at some point, someone will figure out that it's best to keep track of logistics, and soon enough, a system of units for converting 10 sacks of hay into one beam of steel will be devised...

@CobaltVelvet The concept of trading resources without needing to trade physical goods is too useful to abandon. Some kind of measuring stick for the amount of labour that goes into a good is necessary to have, in order to make fair trades.

@CobaltVelvet It's likely that large corporations will be making the first of these robots, and they'll be operating within *our* system, not an imagined new system. If these business men figure out that they can just go off with their robots and ignore the rest of us, since the robots can now manufacture and repair themselves...

@CobaltVelvet You know, you'd need *some* kind of credit system. Otherwise, there'd be abuse. Extremely wasteful projects would be executed.

@CobaltVelvet Perhaps so, but in my experience, it's extremely hard to sell these hobby projects.

@CobaltVelvet Oh, the automation thing. Yes, of course, if we reach a point where every job can be automated, we *can* of course all just do whatever we want all day, but there are a number of pernicious scenarios that could unfold instead too. What if the people who make the robots discover that they don't actually need other people anymore, now that robots do all the work?

@CobaltVelvet If I could get paid for my hobby projects, fine, but the thing is that if they don't provide value to anyone, there's no reason that anyone else should support me with food and shelter.

@CobaltVelvet And yes, you're basically trying to have the cake and eat it too. You want to have things without working for them, or rather, without doing work for other people in order to make money.

@CobaltVelvet It does need the whole system of capitalism to power it, because in order to live a life like that, someone else needs to drive the garbage trucks, write software, run grocery shops, etc. I mean, you're essentially trying to avoid the job every wild animal has to do: Search for food and shelter. As a bonus, you get the sail boat and the cocktail party. (No animal is unhappy with excess.)