Working it out: labour, machines, and the good life

Please join us this Sunday as we discuss work, labour, machines and the good life. Ilya will be leading this session. It's a big topic and we are likely to continue talking about it next Sunday.

We will meet at the Queensberry Hotel, 593 Swanston Street, Carlton (100m north of previous location) at 2pm for a 2:15pm start sharp.
We kindly ask attendees to pay $5 to attend to help with MeetUp costs & venue costs. This is not mandatory, but if you are a regular member it would be appreciated. Any extra moneys will go towards buying food and drinks for the table. The venue also expects us to spend money as a group, so grateful if everyone could buy a drink from the venue.

There is no pre-requisite preparation necessary, nor a philosophical background, all that is required is a curious mind. These discussions are both a Socrates Cafe style discussion and lively metaphysical dojo, in the spirit of learning and friendly debate, so please feel free to challenge assumptions and be prepared to have your own assumptions challenged.
Find below some questions to consider, however these are free-ranging events and the below serve as a springboard for the discussion.

Why we work
1. If there was no economic necessity – would you still choose to work?
2. Would you do similar work to what you currently do or something else?
3. What is “work” as opposed to leisure or other activity?
4. Is doing work essential to living a ‘Good Life’?
5. Do you feel guilty when not working?
6. Is becoming competent at a profession important for identity formation?

Paradox of productivity
7. Why is it that no matter how much the economy is industrialised and automated, there have always been enough new jobs created to keep unemployment low?
8. In 1930, the prominent economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that within 100 years technological improvements would result in a 15-hour work week. Why hasn’t this happened?
9. We live in a society where much has been simplified to ‘a click of a button’, yet why do we feel busier than ever?
10. Has the removal of bottlenecks caused us to live at a more frenetic pace?
11.Does difficulty and friction create meaning? Do resistance and constraint force us to slow down and better appreciate life?

Work in my backyard
12. To what degree does work (and associated competition) function as a necessary ‘sorting mechanism’ for status and resources?
13. Competition for many jobs – especially those that are prestigious - is increasingly global. Has it become harder for people who want a ‘normal’ job (and the good life)?
14. How does the globalisation of work affect how we see the ‘relevant moral community’, such as between Australia and developing nations?
15. Is globalised work a trend towards greater justice or injustice?

Augmented Indolence?
16. While the advent of every technology introduced thus far has not reduced human labour in aggregate, with AI will it finally be different this time?
17. If AI replaces numerous types of jobs wholesale, what new work may be created (or greatly expanded) for humans to do?
18. If aggregate human labour was drastically reduced, is it more likely that people will feel liberated from economic necessity, or beset by a crisis of meaning?
19. What is worse – a life of constant work, or no work at all?