Why I Talk More with Rideshare Drivers

For me there’s an interesting element in rideshare services and how they affect human interaction.

The idea was to require less interaction. You don’t have to tell them where you’re going. And you don’t have to talk about payment. So a lot of people imagine that as headphones in and no discussion other than hello and goodbye.

But for me it’s the opposite.

I tend to have the best conversations with rideshare drivers, and perhaps it’s because we’ve removed the banal from the table.

It got me thinking about Basic Income, and what people could do if they weren’t trying to make Maslow happy.

I’m not sure there’s a correlation there, and I’m definitely not sure it will turn out to be solid even if it is there, but it’s worth thinking about.

Basically, what if removing banality and tedium gives freedom to do higher-order activities? And maybe this is a promise of technology to embrace? I think it’s a common theme, actually, and it’s the counter to the “robots taking our jobs is bad” argument.

I think the reality will be a hybrid, though. For many it’ll be horrible, and the entire game will be to transition as many as possible into this new model of “we freed you up to do better things”.

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