Universal Basic Sex

May 2, 2018 Phil Abundance, Podcasts, Transformations, Transition Comments Off on Universal Basic Sex

Universal Basic Happiness, Part 1

Last Weekend, Robin Hanson stirred things up by inquiring why the people concerned about income inequality aren’t worried about other forms of inequality:

Those w/ less access to sex plausibly suffer similarly to those with low income, & might similarly hope to organize to lobby for redistribution along this axis. Strikingly, I see little overlap between those concerned about income & sex inequality.

Phil and Stephen discuss: If Universal Basic Income becomes a thing, will Universal Basic Sex be next?

It would be a difficult solution to implement. Some of the hysterical reactions have been that Robin is calling for rape and/or sexual slavery to cure the sex inequality. (Of course he isn’t calling for anything — just inquiring why different kinds of inequality are treated differently. In a fairly trollish way, yes, but then that’s Robin.)

(Stephen tells a funny story about Mike Nichols and Robert Redford. Suffice to say that Redford’s life has probably been pretty different from most guys’.)

Could universal basic sex be managed in such a way that it protected individual freedom and dignity?

Sex bots, anyone? (Katie Couric has been talking to them, apparently.) We will come back to sexbots in a later podcast.

Meanwhile, here’s a much bigger inequality: happiness.

Some people are a lot happier than others. Some just seem to have happy dispositions. Doesn’t that transcend most other inequalities? Think about it:

There are poor people who are happy.
There are rich people who are miserable.
They are people who have a lot of sex who hate their lives.
There are people who are completely celibate who love every minute of their lives.

Related: Why $50,000 May Be the (New) Happiness Tipping Point

So if happiness is the big inequality, how do we fix it?

We’ll explore further in part 2.

WT 433-746

Eternity Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) | Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Images from Pixabay.com and other sources.

About Phil 523 Articles
Phil Bowermaster is a nationally recognized author and speaker. He has more than 25 years experience writing about emerging technologies and the future. As co-host of the popular Internet radio series, The World Transformed, Phil has talked with leading scientists and technologists, best-selling authors, philosophers, filmmakers, artists, entrepreneurs and others who are shaping our understanding of the amazing era of transformation in which we live. Phil helps leaders and their organizations develop strategies for managing accelerating change. He shows how imagination, optimism, empathy, and humor can make all the difference in both understanding and making the most of the powerful currents of change we face.

Related Articles

Aliens

Aliens and Uncertainty

July 6, 2018 Phil Aliens Comments Off on Aliens and Uncertainty

Here’s a case in point on radical uncertainty. Do we believe this? Are we alone? The question is worthy of serious scientific study Declassified information from covert studies is interesting, but not scientifically helpful. This […]

Life Extension

Young, Thin, and Healthy

July 24, 2018 Phil Life Extension Comments Off on Young, Thin, and Healthy

Phil and Stephen discuss medical breakthroughs that promise to help us all stay young, thin, and healthy. The ‘Big Bang’ of Alzheimer’s: Scientists ID genesis of disease, focus efforts on shape-shifting tau Scientists have discovered […]