Will Minecraft and Makerbot Usher in the Post-Scarcity Economy? | Idea Channel | PBS

From the Jetsons to Cory Doctorow, science fiction writers of all stripes have imagined a world where any object could be instantly created. Modern economics on the other hand, is built on the principle of competition for scarce resources. And while it may not seem like a video game and printer could alter this economic reality, we beg to differ. Minecraft's creative mode is the perfect vehicle for understanding a Post-Scarcity world; a place where resources are permanently available and constantly regenerated. It shows that with unlimited resources, people end up creating amazing digital structures! Of course, a world of infinitely available resources seems pretty fantastical until you consider the Makerbot and the future of 3D printing. The Makerbot is an at home device that allow you to print real three dimensional objects, meaning a Minecraftian future where you can print anything you want at anytime might not be that far away.

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Hosted by Mike Rugnetta (@mikerugnetta)
Made by Kornhaber Brown (http://www.kornhaberbrown.com)

This video contains a clip from Zach Bora's Minecraft - Mansion Timelapse video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPU0W4...

Music By:
Roglok - http://vimeo.com/musicstore/track/21166
DJ Mar.S. AKA One Milk - http://www.jamendo.com/en/artist/3675...
Room for the Homeless - Level 5: http://www.jamendo.com/en/list/a10132...

Minecraft Fun:
http://www.geekosystem.com/21-amazing...

Makerbot & 3D Printing Goodness:
http://www.makerbot.com/
http://www.thingiverse.com/
http://www.gizmag.com/the-pirate-bay-...
http://www.noblevisiongroup.com/techn...
http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/en-...

Watch Shannon on Coffey Chat!
http://www.youtube.com/user/coffeychat

Want some more Idea Channel?

Here's last week's episode: How Did Sherlock Holmes Pave the Way for 50 Shades of Grey? http://youtu.be/beJdVmiQijM

Want another one? Here ya go: "Does the Kinect Make Microsoft an Arts Benefactor?" http://youtu.be/h4VMbeB5Hlk

You want more? Check this one out:"Does Nail Art Prove That Anything Can Be A Canvas for Artistic Expression?" http://youtu.be/DaYfonm51Lo

• Category

  Education

[BeLeeZy]

I saw the other one on transhumanism, and I'm thinking about it... couldn't post scarcity happen in virtual reality?

[xSOMNIOXx]

Kerbal space program.

[Zanoid Smuggler]

The funny thing is, the first time he started talking about survival mode he showed footage from creative mode

[BeckAdventures]

You are pretty much hitting it on the head. The Euro is far more controlled by the governments than American Currency/Federal Reserve Notes. The Federal Reserve is technically NOT a governmental entity, but instead owned and run by private, publicly unknown, individuals. They give Federal Reserve notes with debt attached, and they can determine what that debt amount is or when it is owed, etc. The Euro since it spans many countries, has to be supervised by all participating governments.

[Casey Koons]

It's arguable that the laws of physics would prevent the kind of free limitless energy that would allow such a society to exist, but you never know. I'm most interested in the way such a society would act, especially, towards other non-scarcity societies. When you think about it, the Prime Directive prevented the Enterprise from ending poverty and illness at its every destination.

I recommend the Culture novels of Ian Banks for an fascinating looking at another such society.

[DaemonEX0]

Thanks, I didn't know about the latter! However, I understand that Federal Reserve Notes work perfectly fine as a currency since they're backed by money, existent or not, owned by the Federal Reserve. It still seems to me like `dollars` are automatically a debt, whereas the Euro, which has a value based on several of the participating countries markets, are not per se so.

[BeckAdventures]

Currency conversion and the world wide debt system allows for the giant countries such as America and even giant industrial companies (some in the US have more economic wealth than many countries) to shift assets and who owes them what and when it is owed. Organizations like the World Bank (Similar in structure to FR) allow for shifting much easier. It doesn't matter what the currency is or the value of the currency is at the time, all currency is exchangeable and shiftable world-wide.

[Brian Cha]

Dude, sorry. you're trying to be all smart and everything, but you miss his point..... he's not talking about money. He is talking about resources and yes there are limits to everything as far as today's technology goes. and he does say that it takes "Work to get" these things so he did quickly mention development... shoo.