While I can’t disagree with Ray’s evidence that “nations” have become wealthier, we can’t let our optimism about that distract us from seeing WHO WITHIN those nations capture most of that wealth. For example, corporate productivity has soared with the evolution of information technology. Yet most of that gain goes to those on top, with the average Fortune 500 CEO earning hundreds of times the wages of the average entry worker at the same company. And that gap is getting worse, with the rich getter richer (enjoying most of the fruits of increased productivity), while the less fortunate are told to “tighten their belts” and work harder for less pay. It’s true that the rank and file get smartphones and can play Angry Birds, but in the fundamental areas of personal income and debt, things are not improving for lower- and middle- class persons, as again the main fruits of technologies go to the owning class.

If this trend continues– in which the rich disproportionately profit from technologies notwithstanding their seemingly “democratizing” features on the surface– what is going to stop it? The large corporations control large capital, and get first access to most cutting edge technologies, and first access to politicians to block poorer persons’ access to those same technologies.

In short, who will own the robots? Why would we think it would be anyone other than large corporations. And why would they share the fruits of those tools in any greater proportion than they are sharing them now?

Please explain how the corporate entity is going to distribute resources equally? I mean that would be like me inviting my dogs to jump up on my dinner table and dig in to my dinner. An organism with a food source typicallly defends it. Don’t even think that these things will give up energy unless it grants access to a greater quantity.

You need to rethink this Ray. You are perpetuating a pernicious message.
Ultraintelligence is a white out. Perfect perpetuation. Nothing differentiated . The complete absence of intelligence. That’s where the singularity leads.

This is a topic that’s been incredibly important to me personally for most of my life. So, I’ll approach this topic from a more personal view. I live in the Mass (Merrimac Valley area) in the USA, and have developed software for most of my life (starting in 1984). I have spent some time in the ‘top 1%’ (late 80′s to mid 90′s), and was close to people who had to means to build a lot of community and even more philanthropy (formal and informal). I got to do a lot of work for charities then (mostly for homelessness), and was able to use my skills with computers and dis a lot of social research (important in such an “evidence based” area). This was a tremendous influence on me, and I’ve been able to help since then. I was recently destitute myself for a short while, and now I’m just surviving. So, now I’m trying to help the area this topic is about ( helping the ‘have nots’ with technology)

I’ve have and have had many great friends who are have been impoverished, exploited, etc. for their entire lives. I definitely see the incredibly value that computer technology is creating and it’s democratizing effect (mobile networking in particular) and it’s influence on education, health care, etc.. It’s just beginning to really pick up though, and I see a lot of obstacles that are shutting out the ‘have nots’. And since technologies like mobile networking and social media are so new and changing and growing so rapidly, I think it will take a little while to get beyond some of the confusion this creates. While, I think it’s important to not demagogue or scare people, some things shouldn’t be as taboo as they seem to still be, in my opinion. I don’t think a lot of people realize that there is tremendous hunger in the USA right nation now (or at least they don’t talk about it much), and in the present and near future, I don’t see this improving. I see huge inequities (not small one) right now, every time I walk out my door. I also have learned that the human survival instinct and ability is one of the most extraordinary forces I know of, and is vastly underestimated. I’m used to being around these things and experiencing them, so it’s a habit to talk about them freely. I’m not trying to editorialize and don’t wish to upset anyone who isn’t as familiar with these things. I know people are capable of tremendous compassion and have benefited from this a lot, personally. And that often people want to help, but that it’s not an easy thing to do. Right now, I’m finding it challenging. Having the experiences I’ve had, it’s very hard for me to not be able to do as much as I have been in the past, because I have limited resources.

I’ve been trying to use my skills with technology and recent contacts I’ve made to help in this area, but haven’t had much success lately. If this interests anyone, feel free to Email me, if that’s appropriate. Perhaps someone has some insights that would help me.

I recently have made a lot of contacts with people who’ve worked in social services and health care on many levels for their entire lives near where I live(Mass State Government and local non-profits – two sectors under constant economic duress) . They’re all so busy dealing with tremendous budget cuts, downsizing, etc. it’s hard to even reach them. So, I haven’t been able to even volunteer, for the last few years. since coordinating volunteers takes more time and resources. And although I’ve spent time inside these organizations recently and know many people, they can be incredibly difficult to work in, due to underfunding, massive regulation and structure, lack of skill with technology, etc..

I am VERY stubborn concerning this, so I don’t give up, and often tell myself that I should use this time to regroup and think more so I can be more effective – but I often don’t listen to myself!

Recently, I’ve been trying to help them with technology – I have in the recent past, but now I’m not able to. I’m still trying, and I think at least I’ve made some people in these institutions aware of these technological trends, so that’s a start.

The people they serve are really being left behind and could really benefit from some help. And people who I have much more time than most people now, but I have very limited resources, myself. And I function best as a role player and would be more effective in an informal role. By that I mean – having someone who’s working in these areas use me in a way that I can avoid all the regulation and constraints that get in the way. This is how I’ve been most effective. If anyone has any experience or ideas about this, or is interested, feel free to Email me: frankpatrick@me.com . Again, I hope this post was appropriate, and my bad prose was tolerable. And this isn’t considered as solicitation of any kind. Just let me know and I’ll understand. I think it’s very important to be polite, but online etiquette is a complex thing. To any one who read this. Thank you so much. -Frank

P.S. – Ray, if you read this. Your work is known by some people working in the areas I mentioned. I’m an avid user of Transcend and your products. Although, I haven’t succeeded at getting anyone to actually use it, I think many people understand it’s value and are starting to see and experience the accretion of technology. So, I think that’s positive.

My point is that there are going to be all kind of unexpected synergies among the various technologies we create. Many of these technologies will unintentionally end up addressing the rich-poor gap. You are right to be concerned about this, as inequality was and still is – the social fire that powers our society. It’s sort of like a heat engine which requires a temperature difference to work.
I think we will develop much better methods to motivate individuals when we become more connected. I am not the capitalist that Peter Thiel is, but I agree with his assessment at the singularity summit this year. Trends do seem to indicate we’re moving toward a more transparent society with less privacy – and this is generally a good thing when it comes to the rich poor gap. It seems like this is affecting the “haves” the most – like politicians and celebrities and such, because everyone wants to know about them. Thus, the awareness of the inequality grows with information access and we end up with revolutions in the Middle East, and the occupy movement in many major cities in the western world. An individual achieves power through money by buying the support of others. This is how the dictators in the Middle East retained their power as long as they did. When the word gets out though, the rest of the world rallies to support the just cause. (I guess Syria has been a tougher nut to crack, but the cards are really stacked against that regime).

It’s true that if you looked only at the math, those who start off with more will end up with more – but when we’re looking at the entire gestalt of human society, things are just not that simple – we can’t ignore the cross-term synergies that will occur. Everything that is happening around us right now – specifically, the fact that both you and I are concerned about the rich-poor gap enough to think and write about it like this, suggests that most humans want to see justice and equity in their society. When we become more aware, those that ignore these values will be pressured to either leave society or adopt them.

There will always be small injustices and inequity, but we will be able to imagine new ways to include and provide for a wider variety of people in the future.

I agree with your argument, that future nations will be richer indeed, but only in comparsion to our current standards.

If you consider the gap between rich and poor by future standards, the relative difference would assumably grow, because the overall factor of growth will favour those with a greater starting value.