# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/61 "2011-08-10T08:45:52Z")
robotics, space travel, and the establishment of spacer worlds. ---
**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, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/62 "2011-08-10T11:52:49Z")
> [@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_. I see your point. Hmmm… who would control replicators? You could make a conquering army, a billion phasers or… what is the Star Trek equivalent of hydrogen bombs? And I’d be worried about Asmovian robots getting all Cyberdyne-y, Three Laws or not. Sorry, that convinces me… no more technological development is allowed on earth. Ever. We just can’t be trusted with it. We must take steps to turn over the planet’s governance to dolphins and moutain gorillas, who will rule with justice for all. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/63 "2011-08-10T12:09:55Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Heinlein’s [Shipstone Technology.](http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1381) Ahem. Post #11. ---
**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, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/64 "2011-08-10T12:16:31Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > We must take steps to turn over the planet’s governance to dolphins and moutain gorillas, who will rule with justice for all. Dolphins maybe.. but mountain gorillas? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/65 "2011-08-10T12:40:53Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Star Trek replicators > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > … won’t be much good without anti-matter power generation, methinks. I could be wrong though. First thing I thought of. The version from George O. Smith’s [Venus Equilateral](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Equilateral) stories is interoperable with 21st century tech, which solves your quibble. Alternately, bring in a Culture GSV and be the first to welcome them, etc. ---
**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, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/66 "2011-08-10T13:17:23Z")
> [@brittekland](#): > > Dolphins maybe.. but mountain gorillas? I dunno, but if they’re good enough for Jane Goodall. they’re welcome to be my new monkey overlords. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/67 "2011-08-10T13:57:53Z")
> [@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_. “There is no Master but the Master, and QT-1 is his prophet.” ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/68 "2011-08-10T14:29:17Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Alternately, bring in a Culture GSV and be the first to welcome them, etc. Well I was just going to hop across and bring back a benign Culture Mind, an entire GSV is just showing off! I’d get all the Culture-level human upgrades when I was over there as well of course! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/69 "2011-08-10T14:47:47Z")
Lightsabres! ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/70 "2011-08-10T16:12:21Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > Lightsabres! A year later, MMA becomes _the_ most popular televised sport worldwide… ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/71 "2011-08-10T16:38:19Z")
Wouldn’t the BTF2 car have time travel, Mr. Fusion, hover car tech, the battery tech requisite to handle Mr. Fusion, AND a sports almanac in it? that’s my nomination though the Mr. Fusion by itself is well worth it. The rest is just icing on the cake, but since i don’t care much for cake, is just ice cream on the pie. ---
**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, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/72 "2011-08-10T23:11:07Z")
> [@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. People THINK this is true. It is not. It would wreck 9 kinds of hell on the Economy for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is “how do people get paid for their intellectual property?”. And it would wreck 9 kinds of Hell on Humanity as people get bored out of their minds and turn to liquor, drugs and bad habits to keep themselves occupied. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/73 "2011-08-10T23:29:47Z")
Well, yeah it would wreck the economy. Economies happen due to scarcity of resources. Remove the scarcity, there’s no need for an economy. > [@Chimera](#): > > It would wreck 9 kinds of hell on the Economy for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is “how do people get paid for their intellectual property?”. Right now, there is a massive number of people on the internet who happily create videos, novels, music, and art for free. Some may do it with the hopes of being paid to do it in the future, sure, but there’s a not-insignificant number of people who create because they like to create. ---
**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 11, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/74 "2011-08-11T01:27:47Z")
> [@](#): > > It would wreck 9 kinds of hell on the Economy for all sorts of reasons, not the least of which is “how do people get paid for their intellectual property?”. > > And it would wreck 9 kinds of Hell on Humanity as people get bored out of their minds and turn to liquor, drugs and bad habits to keep themselves occupied. Why would people _need_ to be paid for their intellectual property? Presumably, they’re happy to produce it just to prevent themselves from getting bored out of their minds and to keep themselves occupied. Or maybe you’d just see an economy based on services and other non-replicable luxuries, but divorced from the essentials of life, from which people could opt out as they chose. Like, maybe, I make money breeding pets which people buy from me, and I spend that money hiring a poet to write an ode to my girlfriend, and the poet spends that money to watch a live play, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/75 "2011-08-11T01:46:30Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I dunno, but if they’re good enough for Jane Goodall. they’re welcome to be my new monkey overlords. for the last time, jane goodall studied chimpanzees, diane fosse studied gorillas. can’t remember the name of the orangutang lady (Mary Galdikas?) ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/76 "2011-08-11T01:51:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > 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. I actually had the ones from _Red Alert 2_ in mind, that inexplicably created gigawatts of power from…iunno, static? Magic? I always thought they were somehow a hodgepodge of his real tesla coils and his theories of “Free Energy,” but I admit I phrased that really shitty. Though the things that \*\*Bryan \*\*is describing are also quite cool. 🆒 ---
**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 11, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/77 "2011-08-11T03:20:58Z")
Huh, the ones in Red Alert 1 just zapped tanks, and consumed enormous amounts of power in the process (you pretty much needed 1 large power plant per 1 Tesla coil). I hadn’t realized they’d changed them in 2. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/78 "2011-08-13T19:16:13Z")
H.L. Menken once said, “No man has ever gone broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” I would want a machine that would do that. No matter how low I shoot. I always overestimate it. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/79 "2011-08-15T01:35:21Z")
If I were feeling altruistic, I would go for the “cornucopia” from some of Harlan Ellison’s stories. Essentially a Star Trek replicator, but doesn’t need antimatter to power it, and doesn’t have the “cannot replicate certain substances” limitation. If I were feeling selfish, I would go for the “autodoc” from Larry Niven’s stories. Cures all diseases, heals all injuries, regenerates lost organs, rejuvenates indefinitely. And, by the 30th century, is a common household appliance. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019/80 "2011-08-15T01:38:17Z")
PS: If you insist on an economic benefit, I would point out that in Niven’s universe, no one is ever too sick to work, or too old to start over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fictional-technology-would-you-use-to-help-the-economy/592019.md?page=5)