Friday, February 19, 2010

1933 & 1983: Jobs of the Future

April 24, 1983
THE TECHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY; WHAT JOBS WILL BE OUT THERE IN 2001?

Because so many people will have spent the day at a terminal rather than interacting with other people, there will be more of a yearning for human companionship after hours, suggested Dr. Dede, who is also former president of the education section of the World Futures Society, an organization concerned with data projection. And a whole new profession may emerge to fill that need. ''You could call these people 'professional pals,' '' he said. ''They could be people who could structure a group activity or liven up a social gathering or simply be good listeners. For anyone interested in working with people rather than machines such a job could be very attractive.''

Dinner at Eight (1933)


A need for people with a strong background in the humanities may flourish once again.

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9 comments:

  1. G.H.February 19, 2010 at 8:30 PM

    "...there will be more of a yearning for human companionship after hours, suggested Dr. Dede...And a whole new profession may emerge to fill that need. ''You could call these people 'professional pals,' '' he said."


    No, I'd call that profession...the oldest one in the world!

    ReplyDelete
  2. mabFebruary 20, 2010 at 10:23 AM

    Stag,

    From the second video in your post:

    We're spending all our time propping up our fading legitimacy.

    So pertinent. For some reason that makes me think of CNBC.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 20, 2010 at 2:15 PM

    G.H. & mab,

    You both homed in on the main themes of my post, like perfect guidance missile systems!

    There's some hope. No machine could have done that, at least not yet. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 20, 2010 at 2:45 PM

    I probably should have said "honed in on" come to think of it, although "homed in on" seems more popular.

    "homed in on"

    http://news.google.com/news?q=%22homed%20in%20on%22&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn

    "honed in on"

    http://news.google.com/news?q=%22honed%20in%20on%22&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wn

    "hone in"

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/hone+in

    1. To move or advance toward a target or goal: The missiles honed in on the military installation.

    What I'm really trying to say here is that I'm spending all my time propping up my blog's fading legitimacy. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. EconomicDisconnectFebruary 20, 2010 at 4:06 PM

    There will be a brief surge in jobs as we build robots then the robots will take our jobs and bring Sky Net online. I mean, it IS the future you know.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 20, 2010 at 4:47 PM

    GYSC,

    Do Americans really want to spend their time building robots to replace them?

    Those are jobs that Americans do no want.

    I'm speaking as the hypothetical CEO of Sky Net of course. Just say the word and I'll move those jobs to China.

    ReplyDelete
  7. mabFebruary 21, 2010 at 4:56 AM

    Stag,

    Wall St. has successfully "homed" in so many sheeple that they now need massive Government assistance to keep track of them all.

    There has to be an easier way:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFID#Animal_identification

    ReplyDelete
  8. remyFebruary 21, 2010 at 12:15 PM

    Maybe the robots will be our new after-hour companions...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 21, 2010 at 2:47 PM

    mab,

    There's never been a better time to be homed in on.

    Remy,

    Apple iBot! ;)

    ReplyDelete