Let me first emphasize that I’m not talking about the deeper question of superintelligence and what happens when robots can do anything a human can do. This is about the (relatively) more immediate question: What happens when robots can perform any unskilled labor much more cheaply than humans? My answer is that we’ll need a good social safety... »
Online marketplaces facilitating peer-to-peer exchange of goods and services have been flourishing. Last year half a million visitors to New York City used Airbnb to find a place to stay. Airbnb is an online marketplace that matches those looking for short-term accommodation with those that can provide it in their homes. So far, consumers have... »
It turns out people are pretty morbidly fascinated by Bethany Soule’s and my auction-based lifestyle. After Bethany’s Messy Matters article, “Love and/or Money,” it was »
With Valentine’s Day two weeks away, there’s still plenty of time to find your soul mate. But daters beware: nearly 50 years after the Supreme Court ruled bans on interracial marriage unconstitutional, race still matters. Among newlyweds, only 9% of whites and 17% of blacks married outside their race. Several recent studies, moreover, have shown that... »
