The Future of Pleasure

As suggested by group member Gabriel, we'll next be taking a look at the future of pleasure...

In this group, we've talked a lot about how the advance of technology is going to reshape our economy, our relationships, our knowledge. It's also fair to ask, how is it going to reshape our fun?

To my mind, this is really two questions. The first is how is this going to affect the amount of time we have for leisure. The commonly held assumption is that, as technology automates more and more "work," people should have more time for leisure? In the pages section, I have posted an article that perhaps challenges that assumption. Perhaps, as machines do more of what we call work now, we will be directed to new tasks that won't feel entirely pleasurable?

And that brings us to the second question: how is our leisure going to be different because of technology? Are we headed to a future like the Matrix, where we all just plug into our ideal little alternate worlds 24/7? Will we use technology to design amazing drugs that give us constant pleasure without any of the negative side effects of current recreational drugs? I have also posted an article that speaks to this question.

It should be a lively discussion; I look forward to having it with you all soon! As always, let me know if there are any comments, questions or concerns.

-dan