# What fictional technology would you use to help the economy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019 "2011-08-09T01:37:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/41 "2011-08-09T18:30:50Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Where are you putting this planet? That’s easy. On the exact opposite place in orbit around the Sun from where the Earth is now. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/42 "2011-08-09T18:34:23Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > That’s easy. On the exact opposite place in orbit around the Sun from where the Earth is now. But how are you _moving_ it there? I ask because the Genesis device, certainly, was not intended to _move_ planetary masses from one orbit to another–just to reshape a planet already in a given orbit, or (as in the movie) to create an wholly new solar system. The latter is a bad idea given that we’re talking about _our_ solar system. And I still want read your plan for transporting people and resources. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/43 "2011-08-09T19:27:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Where are you putting this planet? > > Let’s say you have the Genesis device from Trek II. Which planet in our solar system are you going to terraform? (I assume either Mars or Venus.) You don’t have warp or even impulse drive; how do you plan to move people from Earth to there, or resources from there to Earth? The Moon. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/44 "2011-08-09T19:58:05Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > That’s easy. On the exact opposite place in orbit around the Sun from where the Earth is now. Sorry, my Ringworld is going to need that space. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/45 "2011-08-09T20:01:15Z")
Assuming industrial replicators from ST are out of the question…cold fusion reactor? Tesla coils that work? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/46 "2011-08-09T20:14:23Z")
What do you mean by “Tesla coils that work”? We have those already. Do you mean coils that work for some other purpose than what they’re used for now? What purpose? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/47 "2011-08-09T20:32:09Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Obtain a large supply of TWT (a drug that makes people tell the truth, and leaves the user with a lasting habituation against lying) from Spider Robinson’s story “Satan’s Children”. In a similar vein, a supply of AUM from the _Illuminatus!_ trilogy would be something I’d like to spread around a bit. (It magically turns neophobic people into neophiles.) [Reading of relevant chapter.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnt0Npf1nhA) ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/48 "2011-08-09T20:34:42Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Obtain a large supply of TWT (a drug that makes people tell the truth, and leaves the user with a lasting habituation against lying) from Spider Robinson’s story “Satan’s Children”. Add to various capitol-building and executive-mansion water supplies. Pop corn. I’m not sure how that’s supposed to help the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/49 "2011-08-09T21:57:16Z")
Heinlein’s [Shipstone Technology.](http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1381) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/50 "2011-08-09T22:33:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What do you mean by “Tesla coils that work”? We have those already. Do you mean coils that work for some other purpose than what they’re used for now? What purpose? Well, possibly antonio meant the Tesla coils that appeared in _The Prestige_ (with Tesla himself played by David Bowie): Tesla’s invention can instantly and perfectly duplicate objects, animals and persons Useful, to be sure. And since the movie is set in the late 19th century, it clearly doesn’t need huge amounts of electricity to operate. In fact, you could probably get by with a 5 kiloWatt generator. ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/51 "2011-08-09T22:40:00Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > I guess I misunderstood the OP. I was going with the non-literary definition of “fictional.” Though I suppose a Star Trek replicator could do it, though the rules governing the device are inconsistent at best. Me too, but I’ll just tag along on **Steve MB’s** coattails. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/52 "2011-08-09T23:11:49Z")
From _Sleeper_- an orgasmatron. I’ll think of a way for it to benefit the economy later. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/53 "2011-08-10T01:19:04Z")
Of course, a Replicator is the \*\*WORST POSSIBLE CHOICE \*\*when the idea is to HELP the economy. Presto, you just destroyed every manufacturing job on the face of the Earth, and then some. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/54 "2011-08-10T01:41:42Z")
If you set them to replicating Orgasmatrons, nobody’s going to care about the economy. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/55 "2011-08-10T02:02:30Z")
People don’t actually care about not having a job. They care about not having a _paycheck_. If we had replicators (and the means to power them), we could have abundance for all without need for anyone to actually work. ---
**Author:** ![brittekland](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@brittekland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brittekland)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/56 "2011-08-10T02:19:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > People don’t actually care about not having a job. They care about not having a _paycheck_. If we had replicators (and the means to power them), we could have abundance for all without need for anyone to actually work. That will surely make manufacturers unnecessary except for the replicator maker… or can a replicator replicate another replicator? In that case all we need is just one replicator to start this. Then what is the power source of a replicator? Nuke? I guess there still will be riches unless replicator can replicate nuke. Can a microwave sized replicator replicate a Yacht or an airliner? ---
**Author:** ![ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ComeToTheDarkSideWeHaveCookies)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/57 "2011-08-10T02:23:52Z")
Wouldn’t a replicator beg the question of needing an eliminator? Else we might bury the surface of the earth in any number of things… ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/58 "2011-08-10T02:47:32Z")
A replicator wouldn’t help the economy so much as _transcend_ the economy. It would render pretty much the entire manufacturing sector obsolete, but we’d have so much material wealth that people on welfare really _could_ have Cadillacs and it wouldn’t be extravagant by the new standard of living. If replicators are off the table, then I pick orbital power transmitters from Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri. They’re pretty much just massive solar panels up in orbit that can transmit the gathered electricity down to the planet’s surface. > [@CEO Nwabudike Morgan](#): > > [Our sun] blasts unimaginable quantities of energy into space each instant, and virtually every joule of it is wasted entirely. Incomprehensible riches can be ours if we can but stretch our arms wide enough to dip from this eternal river of wealth. The massive increase in supply would reduce electricity to a small fraction of its current price. It would be an enormous boon to manufacturers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/59 "2011-08-10T05:51:25Z")
I do not trust any definable subset of humanity with orbital power transmitters. Get Asimovian robots to entirely control the systems, and I might consider it. _Might_. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/60 "2011-08-10T08:10:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I do not trust any definable subset of humanity with orbital power transmitters. Get Asimovian robots to entirely control the systems, and I might consider it. _Might_. [Sorry, man.](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aJ529lsdk9HI) _“And one by one dropped the revellers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall…and the flames of the tripods expired, and Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.”_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019.md?page=4)