Manna: Two Visions of Humanity's Future (11 page)

Another
thing that helped innovation was the elimination of profit. In the
Australia Project, the robots made everything and delivered it. The
only "price" for anything you wanted was for the resources
consumed. The robots could make one copy or a million copies of
anything in the catalog, and they did not need to make a "profit"
from any of it.

In
a profit-driven society, a huge range of innovative products never
saw the light of day because they could not make a profit. A
technology or a product had to have enough people using it to cover
the costs of the people working on the product, the advertising, the
legal bills, the rent, etc. That meant that a lot of people had to be
using a product in order to bring the price down to a reasonable
level. In the Australia Project, that restriction was eliminated.
There were no advertising costs for example. Production and resources
were free. Anything that anyone could conceive could be produced, and
it would reach its natural audience. The size of the audience did not
matter. This meant a much wider range of products and services.

There
was a relatively small but highly regarded segment of the population
that got its fulfillment from fundamental scientific research. This
is the kind of research that figured out things like fusion power,
the origin of the universe and new materials. Throughout history,
these people had never worked for monetary reward as their primary
incentive. They worked instead for the joy of scientific discovery,
and for peer recognition. This was the same kind of thing driving the
open source movement at the turn of the century. The Australia
Project encouraged the creative work of scientists, engineers,
programmers, etc. by devoting a large block of the resources to them.
They could work in groups or individually, and they could work in
their personal areas of interest. Because the scientists and
engineers had the resources and freedom to work on whatever they
wanted, the creative process accelerated. The intellectual playground
offered by the Australia Project was perfect for them.

In
this way, each person in the Australia Project was able to seek and
find a truly fulfilling lifestyle. Those who wanted to lounge around
all day did so. Those who wanted to answer the mysteries of the
universe did that. If you decided you wanted to completely change
your lifestyle at any point, you could do that too.

One
of the more surprising divisions in the society was the difference
between the Vites and the Peas. There was a very large group of
people who, given a choice between the virtual world and the physical
world, preferred to live their lives virtually. They were known as
Vites. Burt, for example, became a Vite -- completely virtual. He
lived his life almost entirely in the virtual world. Vertebrane took
care of everything physical for him -- Eating, showering, using the
bathroom, exercising. This freed Burt's brain to connect to the
virtual world 24 hours a day.

Because
of their lifestyle, Vites used practically no resources. All they
needed was a little space to live in, room to exercise, some simple,
healthy foods and water. Nearly every minute of their lives was spent
in virtual space. When I spent time with Burt, it was always in VS.

The
other half of the population lived mostly in the physical world, and
used Vertebrane as an accessory to their lives. We were known as
Peas. Linda, Cynthia and I were Peas. Linda's preferred mode for
getting together was in virtual space -- She was hooked on flying.
But for the most part, Peas spent a majority of their time in the
real world. They met people, traveled and lived their lives in the
physical realm.

After
orientation, I got to spend a fair amount of time with Burt in his
virtual world. He showed me around his favorite places, as well as
new spaces as they became available. The big news in the Vite
community was "Vite racks". For a Vite, the human body was
a distraction more than anything else. Vite racks gave Vites the
chance to discard their bodies. The brain was all that remained, and
it consumed just 2.5 liters of space on a rack. The big advantage of
a Vite rack was longevity. Current research was showing that the
brain could last decades longer if it was maintained and managed in
the optimal conditions of a rack. When a Vite wanted to enter the
physical world, he or she could have his or her brain loaded into a
variety of robotic bodies. But Vites rarely if ever needed a physical
presence. The research was probably 4 or 5 years away from
perfection, but it was going to be a huge development once it was
complete.

Personally,
I found the whole idea of a Vite rack creepy. I kind of liked my
body. In fact, I liked everything about the physical world that made
up the Australia project. After looking through the thousands of
housing options available and touring many of them, I settled on a
lifestyle that surprised me. There was a community set up to mimic
many of the features of the original town of Williamsburg. People
worked together to build their own houses, grow their own food, make
their own clothes, practice simple crafts and trade with one another.
The people living in this town were wonderful -- honest, industrious,
friendly, down-to-earth. The things we did together were simple and
straightforward. I could still visit my friends in virtual space when
I wanted to, but I often kept Vertebrane in pass-through mode for
days at a time.

It
was amazing to me that technology had brought us full circle like
this. I was living in the most amazing civilization known to mankind.
As a species we had conquered nearly every want or need of the human
condition. Food, water, clothing and shelter, as well as every
imaginable type of entertainment or endeavor, were available in such
abundance that everyone had a nearly infinite supply. Technology had
advanced to the point where I could take an elevator ride to space,
and was nearly to the point where my brain could be removed from my
body so I could live a completely virtual life.

But
with all of this technology available, I choose to live my life by
setting time back 300 years and living a very simple, completely
physical lifestyle. I grew my own food and built my own simple house
with my own hands. I was able to be a kind grandfather to dozens of
children in the village, to make clay pots in the sun and to grow
flowers in my garden outside my bedroom window. I was as happy and
fulfilled as I ever had been at any time in my entire life -- my life
was perfect, because it was exactly the way I wanted it to be.

Giving
each human being the freedom to reach this level of deeply personal
contentment was a remarkable achievement.

If
you have read this book and thought about humanity's two possible
futures, you realize that we have a choice as a society. We can
continue down our current track, where everyone who loses a job to
the robots ends up on welfare and living in a place like Terrafoam.
Or we can chart a new course, where robots do all the work and
humanity lives in freedom and equality while on perpetual vacation.

Obviously
a society like the one described for the Australia Project is
preferable for everyone. However, this type of society will not
become a reality unless we take active steps to make it happen. If
you are interested in helping, you can do three things:

1)
Please tell your friends and neighbors about this book to help spread
awareness. Manna is available on the Kindle and is also free on the
web.

2)
If you like the book, please rate and review it on Amazon.

3)
Please contact Marshall Brain at http://MarshallBrain.com

Thank
you for reading.

Marshall
Brain is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com. Marshall
started the site as a hobby in 1998 and it was purchased for $250
million by Discovery Communications in 2007.

As
a well-known public speaker, Marshall frequently appears on radio and
TV programs nationwide. He has appeared on everything from The Oprah
Winfrey Show to CNN. He is the host of National Geographic's "Factory
Floor With Marshall Brain".

Marshall
has written more than a dozen books and a number of widely known
publications.

Today
Marshall resides in Cary, NC with his wife and four children.

You
can learn more about Marshall Brain at http://MarshallBrain.com