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I'm glad I'm not in that boat. What will your doctorate be in? And are you in danger of being replaced by a robot one day?

I'm leaning towards a PhD in Medchem right now, with a focus on small molecule drugs. Ideally I also need to learn protein therapeutics. I have previous experience in gene delivery and drug delivery platforms. I'm also going for an MBA (which should make my intentions pretty clear). As per the robots--not for some time. Someday, perhaps, but not soon.
 
Interesting. Best Buy founder Richard Schulze never went to college. Steve Jobs was a college dropout yet he has top Ivy League business school graduates and PhD's working for him. Perhaps Richard and Steve should have followed your advice.

Nice sample of the very small percentage of people who never finished college that went on to become millionaires. The other percentage, working for $6 an hour or bleeding this country of welfare dollars.
 
Nice sample of the very small percentage of people who never finished college that went on to become millionaires. The other percentage, working for $6 an hour or bleeding this country of welfare dollars.
And what about the taxi drivers who have degrees?
 
We just need a major shift from greed based mentality to a more humanitarian approach.

aka Star Trek.

It would be nice to think that these robots will be used in the hazardous tasks like cleaning with dangerous chemicals thereby stopping humans being poisoned etc.

I also hope its like Mr Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory .. mending the machine that took his job.
 
It would look good on headlines: "The iPhone 5, the first phone build entirely by robots"
 
And how can you expect these people (with no government assistance) to pay for this education? They can hardly afford the food they eat.

Take econ 101.

If college is a valuable thing, then people will be able to get a loan from a bank to go to college, with the knowledge that they will be able to pay it back in the future.

What's truly scary is the number of people who participate in discussions of economics without a single clue about the topic.

I mean really - "how is someone going to pay for [insert any good here] without government assistance"??!?!??!

Like, what do you think we all did before the government went crazy and started thinking that it was SUPPOSED to be involved in these things? You think we all just rooted around for vegetables?
 
Anyone stopped to think just how cheap human labour is compared against the cost of machines like this and their upkeep/replacement.
 
Interesting to see what happens when sales die because nobody has a job. All the robots will be unplugged, covered in cobwebs in deserted buildings.

Unfortunately history shows that the angry unemployed will turn to tyrants who promise to kill a few million scapegoats. Happens all the time.

Sewing seeds of their own destruction, that's what it is.
 
Chinese now know how it feels to become redundant.

Pretty soon there will be laws governing how much of a production line can be automated.
 
Anyone stopped to think just how cheap human labour is compared against the cost of machines like this and their upkeep/replacement.

I'm sure lots of people did, which is why they're replacing humans with robots. Why, do you think humans are cheaper? You must have a good reason to think that as an outsider you have more insight into how much these things cost than the managers whose job it is to know.
 
Anyone stopped to think just how cheap human labour is compared against the cost of machines like this and their upkeep/replacement.

A small robot only cost around 10k USD, can work at 1000 mm a second and within tolerances of somewhere around .5mm or better at that speed. Note, this is a 6 axis robot I am talking about. SCARA robots are much faster...or something like an Adept Quattro in this video moving pool balls - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTz1MAasQq8
 
Take econ 101.

If college is a valuable thing, then people will be able to get a loan from a bank to go to college, with the knowledge that they will be able to pay it back in the future.

Bank says after you finish the education will you be guaranteed a job to pay back the loan? No guaranteed jobs anymore. So the bank will not lend the money. Banks only care to get the money back with interest.

Try to get a bank loan for education here and you'll be laughed out of the bank. Unless you have a very good job and do the education part time at night. The long and hard way.
 
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Great. First we outsource human labour, and then strip them of all dignity by replacing them with machines. What's worse, Foxconn working conditions or unemployment? Both don't seem to end well for the labourer. =/ If I was charged an extra £100 per Mac to ensure a family could lead a semi-decent life, I'd gladly pay it (says someone who could not afford another Mac in the foreseeable future).
 
Yes, you're better off with it. The manufacturing sector is gradually turning into a dead end for workers, unless they're employed in ancillary positions in the sector.

Manufacturing sector died ages ago when all the labour was brought in China and co., and I'm not talking of just electronic.

Bank says after you finish the education will you be guaranteed a job to pay back the loan? No guaranteed jobs anymore. So the bank will not lend the money. Banks only care to get the money back with interest.

Try to get a bank loan for education here and you'll be laughed out of the bank. Unless you have a very good job and do the education part time at night. The long and hard way.

In Uk there's the Student Finance England they loan you money for your fees, and you won't pay anything until:

1. Finish your studies
2. Start working and earn more than £21,000 a year.

You will have to pay 9% of whatever is over the 21k treshold. How is that for a deal?
 
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Great. First we outsource human labour, and then strip them of all dignity by replacing them with machines. What's worse, Foxconn working conditions or unemployment? Both don't seem to end well for the labourer. =/ If I was charged an extra £100 per Mac to ensure a family could lead a semi-decent life, I'd gladly pay it (says someone who could not afford another Mac in the foreseeable future).

What do you think is working on vehicles during 98% of the process? You act like this is just happening, robots have been working in factories for decades...
 
Interesting to see what happens when sales die because nobody has a job. All the robots will be unplugged, covered in cobwebs in deserted buildings.

Good thing nobody (or at least nobody that mattered) thought that way in the last 5 revolutions that raised overall living standards and put a few people out of work. Otherwise you might be thanking your lucky stars to still have your job cleaning out the outhouse, or making candles for evening light, or whipping a horse to pull your client through the streets, or washing your boss' clothes and dishes.

Progress, by definition, involves making some people redundant. The human mind is capable of keeping up with that progress, and barring laziness or stupidity, learning new skills and keeping up.

When did this board turn into a bunch of anti-progress pansies? Do you know how many people lost their jobs making walkmen when Apple took over the world with iPods? Would you rather just keep using things that kept all the lazy in their jobs?
 
well...

Statistics and demographics cannot be ignored.

Exploding population + diminishing resources (polluted, mismanaged, wasted) = each individual life getting more replaceable (read "cheaper") by the minute, no matter our location, education, intelligence, race, language, belief system...

If your job/work can be automated or outsourced, it will be. If you can be replaced by another human/android or by software, you will be – and some might argue, you SHOULD be. Think smarter, work harder, produce better, sell cheaper. Hope it still matters to somebody, anybody, enough...

Interesting times, shifting the paradigm(s) of education, training, employment, social services, communication, transportation, knowledge/skill, productivity, delivery. To say nothing of personal relevance, joy, meaning, humanity, legacy...

Singularity may be our best option, the other: back to the cave, via incredible carnage. Hold on tight for the very bumpy ride ahead – we'll all find out what we're really made of, sooner or later...
 
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michaellinehan said:
Lesson taught... Go to college

That myth - go to college and get a good job - died long, long ago.

If you've had many friends with college degrees, including postgrad, they would be a very exceptional group if they all have good jobs. Chances are a good few of them are working boring and menial jobs far below the level they thought they were going to get, and a good few more are unemployed or barely getting by.

A college degree was a good metric for hring when only a few people had them and were usually the more capable.

Now that everyone tries to go to college it is clear that a college education is worth very little for 90% of the professions. Outside of specific industries people who hire only degreed people are only kidding themselves.

I agree everyone got sold the notion that if you get a college degree you are set. That is not sustainable when way more people have college degrees. Not ti mention the abilities of a 2011 college graduate relative to the work force vs a 1960 college graduate is likely massive.
 
Bank says after you finish the education will you be guaranteed a job to pay back the loan? No guaranteed jobs anymore. So the bank will not lend the money. Banks only care to get the money back with interest.

The bank knows that if you invest your credit into your own future, you will work hard and get a job. Nothing needs to be guaranteed, because if you work hard, you will succeed. Another thing that seems to be forgotten these days.

The key factor in paying back a loan, it has been shown many many times, is wanting to pay back a loan. Human nature is to want to make good on faith placed in you.

Try to get a bank loan for education here and you'll be laughed out of the bank. Unless you have a very good job and do the education part time at night. The long and hard way.

Yes, that's because the government has taken over that industry. But before the government did that, you could certainly get loans for education. I'm sure if you look around the world you'll find many governments that haven't overreached into things like that where students can regularly get loans from private industry. Again, if an education has value and will generate a return to the recipient, you will easily be able to get a loan to pay for it. Just like everything else in the world, for god's sake.

Man is this sad. I hope the idiots in washington are reading things like this, to see what their "help" does to people's minds. Makes them all mushy.

On the other hand this makes me feel good about my future and the future of my family. The few who think for themselves, and understand how profit motive works, are sure to have a strong place in a society full of flipped-over turtles.
 
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