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A review by richardleis
Robots Will Steal Your Job, But That's OK: How to Survive the Economic Collapse and Be Happy by Federico Pistono
3.0
There is much I appreciate about this book, including the author's obvious enthusiasm and attention to the subject of automation and robots replacing human labor for good. There are particular sections about happiness and some good advice that I found personally useful.
Unfortunately, the book as a whole does not quite gel into a cohesive exploration of these important topics, and in fact, the book ends abruptly, without an explanation as to why the last topics are important to any overarching thesis. In particular, Part 3 and its focus on solutions is a collection of short chapters that might serve as good self help advice, but still doesn't provide an overall solution to millions of people losing their jobs to technology. There is a start of a solution there, and I appreciate that it focuses on the individual, but I think any good solution will need to address multiple scales, from the individual to humanity as a whole, and will need to be explored in a narrative that people will feel compelled to pay attention to. It might be okay to let robots take all the jobs, and it might be best for each of us to pursue self actualization and the right kinds of happiness in the right kinds of ways, but the two of these alone are only the very tip of an overall solution.
I was also put off by the number of spelling and grammatical errors, as well as some statements that felt naive or dismissive when the topic at hand required a deeper look. However, the author is relatively young and I think he will continue to improve rapidly as he continues to explore these and other topics and continues to lecture and write more. In the end, I was thankful for a good summary of the current issue and links to additional resources. This discourse needs to continue, and I am looking forward to it maturing and getting into more comprehensive solutions.
Unfortunately, the book as a whole does not quite gel into a cohesive exploration of these important topics, and in fact, the book ends abruptly, without an explanation as to why the last topics are important to any overarching thesis. In particular, Part 3 and its focus on solutions is a collection of short chapters that might serve as good self help advice, but still doesn't provide an overall solution to millions of people losing their jobs to technology. There is a start of a solution there, and I appreciate that it focuses on the individual, but I think any good solution will need to address multiple scales, from the individual to humanity as a whole, and will need to be explored in a narrative that people will feel compelled to pay attention to. It might be okay to let robots take all the jobs, and it might be best for each of us to pursue self actualization and the right kinds of happiness in the right kinds of ways, but the two of these alone are only the very tip of an overall solution.
I was also put off by the number of spelling and grammatical errors, as well as some statements that felt naive or dismissive when the topic at hand required a deeper look. However, the author is relatively young and I think he will continue to improve rapidly as he continues to explore these and other topics and continues to lecture and write more. In the end, I was thankful for a good summary of the current issue and links to additional resources. This discourse needs to continue, and I am looking forward to it maturing and getting into more comprehensive solutions.