Ignorant Professors

[jabf2006]

Last night I had my first class in Human Resource Management. I work full-time for a big tech firm here in Canada, but I'm working on completing my business degree part-time.

Despite this being a class in human resource management, the professor felt it to be worthwhile to give the class a lesson economics. He declared to the class more than once that "technology advancements which help us do things more efficiently are good, but technology advancements which replace jobs are bad."

The first time I heard him say it, I let it pass. I'm attending a left leaning university and I've heard worse from professors there.

The second time I immediately spoke out, "technology has been replacing jobs for thousands of years and there is nothing wrong with this". The following back and forth occurred:

Him "This is true, but some technologies have been known to put people out of work; for example ATMs"

Me "I'm sorry, but are you saying that banks employ less people today because of ATMs?"

Him "Well, no, that's not true. But it has forced a shift in the work force."

Me "Right, so because of ATMs, an easy job has become automated and the work force has been shifted to more productive jobs which cannot be automated as of yet, but has not caused unemployment."

Him "Uh, right, but consider the impact on customer service. Because of ATMs, there are less people to work customer service, so when you need to do something at the bank that cannot be done using the ATM, you have to wait in long lines. The line at the Bank today when I was attempting to make a deposit into a business account was incredible".

Me "Uh-huh. So before ATMs there weren't line-ups at banks?"

Him "Oh no, there were. Moving on..."

Just thought I'd share.

 

[CuseRonPaul]

Him "This is true, but some technologies have been known to put people out of work; for example ATMs"

Him "Well, no, that's not true.

oic

 

[I Don't Vote]

horse and buggy

 

[AFPVet]

Technology changes jobs.... Some jobs gain from it—while others do not. I believe his point was that technology has changed the workforce. That is all we need to take from it

 

[jabf2006]

No. His original point was that some technologies hurt the workforce. Its an economic fallacy that idiots have been spreading for hundreds of years that continues to be proven wrong over and over again.

 

[nate895]

The Luddite fallacy is the second most annoying economic fallacy, after the broken window fallacy. It's just so stupid that anyone who believes it clearly does not understand economics at all. Yeah, new technology leads to a displacement of the workforce, but it increases wealth and there is no shortage of other tasks that only human beings can accomplish, at least at this point.

 

[specsaregood]

Despite this being a class in human resource management, the professor felt it to be worthwhile to give the class a lesson economics. He declared to the class more than once that "technology advancements which help us do things more efficiently are good, but technology advancements which replace jobs are bad."

Perhaps he meant to say it was bad for those in the career of human resource management.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

The Luddite fallacy is the second most annoying economic fallacy, after the broken window fallacy. It's just so stupid that anyone who believes it clearly does not understand economics at all. Yeah, new technology leads to a displacement of the workforce, but it increases wealth and there is no shortage of other tasks that only human beings can accomplish, at least at this point.

+a zillion

 

[hugolp]

The Luddite fallacy is the second most annoying economic fallacy, after the broken window fallacy. It's just so stupid that anyone who believes it clearly does not understand economics at all. Yeah, new technology leads to a displacement of the workforce, but it increases wealth and there is no shortage of other tasks that only human beings can accomplish, at least at this point.

Not to mention that technology has allowed us to work less hours. Can you imagine that we could automatize even more jobs and only work 4 days a week. That would be evil... plain evil!

 

[AFPVet]

Some gain, some lose. I agree that the Neo-Luddite views are unfounded... technology is a part of human evolution.

 

[nate895]

Not to mention that technology has allowed us to work less hours. Can you imagine that we could automatize even more jobs and only work 4 days a week. That would be evil... plain evil!

I don't know about that, but I do know that better technology leads to more enjoyment of the time you are at rest. Generally, people spend at least one day off doing unpaid housework and chores, and more technology leads more time to do this kind of work that actually brings tangible joy to our lives and satisfies those we actually care about.

 

[Diurdi]

I don't know about that, but I do know that better technology leads to more enjoyment of the time you are at rest. Generally, people spend at least one day off doing unpaid housework and chores, and more technology leads more time to do this kind of work that actually brings tangible joy to our lives and satisfies those we actually care about.

Ofcourse it does. Do you think 8 hour workdays would've been enough to stay alive in the 18th century?

 

[nate895]

Ofcourse it does. Do you think 8 hour workdays would've been enough to stay alive in the 18th century?

Yeah, but one thing about the modern world as opposed to then is that we have to be able to react to things faster than they did. Things took months back then that take us mere moments now. So, while we might be able to shrink how many hours we work in any particular day, we might still have to work 5 days a week to make sure we keep up with demand.

 

[hugolp]

Yeah, but one thing about the modern world as opposed to then is that we have to be able to react to things faster than they did. Things took months back then that take us mere moments now. So, while we might be able to shrink how many hours we work in any particular day, we might still have to work 5 days a week to make sure we keep up with demand.

I had works where I had to work Saturdays and Sundays. There will always be certain necesities but I was talking in general.

 

[SilentBull]

Nice job arguing with that moron

 

[anaconda]

Good going, OP! That professor ate some humble pie that night. He probably enrolled in a micro principles class at the local community college today.

 

[nicoleeann]

I had a professor who said this "I dont know what people dont understand about it: if we make guns illegal then there would be no more guns."
I had a health professor trying to tell me that soy, flax and beans are the healthiest form of protein (estrogen overload much?)