Robin’s recent post and discussion there made me think of another way that the median entity might spend a lot on the equivalent of plasma TVs. Suppose a high capital to labor ratio is required to optimize military power in the far future. Then once all available resources are claimed by someone, and the optimal capital/labor mix is reached, nations should limit reproduction to avoid declining in power. During peacetime, the high capital levels could allow a high per capita production of consumer goods. (I guess this is just an elaboration of my original argument, which I still don’t quite understand why Robin disagrees with.)
One plausible way this could come about is one of the scenarios Carl Shulman described, namely that most work will be most efficiently performed by specialized AIs that we would not consider sentient.
Robin’s recent post and discussion there made me think of another way that the median entity might spend a lot on the equivalent of plasma TVs. Suppose a high capital to labor ratio is required to optimize military power in the far future. Then once all available resources are claimed by someone, and the optimal capital/labor mix is reached, nations should limit reproduction to avoid declining in power. During peacetime, the high capital levels could allow a high per capita production of consumer goods. (I guess this is just an elaboration of my original argument, which I still don’t quite understand why Robin disagrees with.)
One plausible way this could come about is one of the scenarios Carl Shulman described, namely that most work will be most efficiently performed by specialized AIs that we would not consider sentient.