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In Star Trek's future on earth, could you just be lazy all day if you wanted to?

Why bother? Also, there might be a limit of data capacity even at their tech level. One could imagine that replicator patterns are hella data intensive as they need molecular level information.

But that was never a problem with the replicators on the Enterprise and Voyager. Even the less advanced cardassian replicators on DS9 didn't have that problem.

So why would that be a problem on Earth?
 
But that was never a problem with the replicators on the Enterprise and Voyager. Even the less advanced cardassian replicators on DS9 didn't have that problem.

So why would that be a problem on Earth?
Because it is a home replicator and doesn't have memory core of a starship or a space station.
 
Because it is a home replicator and doesn't have memory core of a starship or a space station.

I doubt that Quark's replicators were connected to DS9's memory core or another mainframe...

And why shouldn't Federation citizens not have any access to state-of-the-art food replicators...?
 
It wouldn't even need to have its own database, as long as it was simply hooked up to the 24th century version of the Internet. We do this with today's tech already, why couldn't they in the 24th century ?
 
It wouldn't even need to have its own database, as long as it was simply hooked up to the 24th century version of the Internet. We do this with today's tech already, why couldn't they in the 24th century ?

Exactly. That's why i think, if replicator patterns are free, there would have been no need for
Dahj's selection of food and drink patterns to be so limited...
 
I doubt that Quark's replicators were connected to DS9's memory core or another mainframe...
Quark was running holosuites, he obviously has access to some powerful memory core.
And why shouldn't Federation citizens not have any access to state-of-the-art food replicators...?
They can have all the recipes they want.
It is just that Dahj had different tastes than her BF. "Vanilla... and vanilla. Your replicator menus are tragic." That 'menu' is her favourites or something. This is a comment about taste, not "Why are you too poor to buy strawberry?" You're overthinking this.
 
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Quark was running holosuites, he obviously has access to some powerful memory core.

They can have all the recipes they want.
It is just that Dahj had different tastes than her BF. "Vanilla... and vanilla. Your replicator menus are tragic." That 'menu' is her favourites or something. This is a comment about taste, not "Why are you too poor to buy strawberry." You're overthinking this.

Yeah, that might be another explanation.
 
Your thinking is very limited. Money is a social construct, it is not really real. Yes, some work must be done, but with sufficient automation most people indeed can just do whatever the fuck they want, including doing nothing, and the society will work just fine.

We will face this sooner than you expect in real life, robots will do most jobs, and humans as workers will become obsolete. Se we better start developing values that see humans as more than just necessary tools for keep the infrastructure running, because we won't be needed for that for long.
 
Most people find fulfillment in the work of their own hands. I do. It's a bad idea to leave people idle. Idle hands are the Devils workshop. Doesn't sound like paradise to me. Working for what you want is character building.
The robot society won't work. Labor saving is fine but leaving the majority of a population idle won't work. Sure, let robots do dangerous work. I do t want robot artists, dancers, actors, leaders. I already hate robo calls, automated customer service, etc.
Your world you see coming is trouble not Paradise.
 
A vacation is only fun because it's limited, eventually everything gets boring. I think one of the reasons counselors are so prominent in Star Trek is to make sure that when you get tired of doing nothing you can be directed towards/helped to find a fulfilling and productive activity, rather than getting depressed and watching holonovels all day till you die.
 
I don't understand why anyone would delete food items from a big database of replicator patterns. Especially if someone could easily create a list of favorite dishes and drinks, without the need to erase anything.

That's why i doubt that is was simply a matter of taste.

But if patterns are free to download, wouldn't it make the most sense to download all of them or as much as you can to be prepared for all occasions...?

But that was never a problem with the replicators on the Enterprise and Voyager. Even the less advanced cardassian replicators on DS9 didn't have that problem.

So why would that be a problem on Earth?

You seem to be approaching this from a different point of view. Consider this...

Do you subscribe to a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc? Those services all have a "my list" type of section. Even though I subscribe to the service and I have access to all their movies, I don't have everything they offer in "my list." They aren't my taste. Likewise, there are some features on my Roku and associated apps that I have hidden from view. They aren't my taste and I'd rather them not clutter my screen.

Just because I CAN access an unlimited amount of something doesn't mean I want to.

I do like the idea of downloaded replicator patterns taking up storage space. I know with digital downloads for movies and music it's possible to run out of space. Sometimes a movie will get deleted or moved to a long-term storage area like a disc or separate hard drive that is not as easily accessed. This frees up room for more immediate demands.

No, there were no apparent problems on starships when it comes to replicator storage space, but how much variety did we really see? Maybe we just assume there was an unlimited database. Maybe a starship with over 1,000 people has more replicator storage space than an apartment that only has room for 2 full-time residents.

Now, this doesn't negate your point of view, either. Perhaps replicator patterns cost money the way games or downloaded movies cost. Perhaps people purchase replicator patterns and, until I get around to buying more patterns, the selections in my home replicator are going to be limited. That idea is just as valid except that it implies money exchanged for goods and services.
 
You seem to be approaching this from a different point of view. Consider this...

Do you subscribe to a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc? Those services all have a "my list" type of section. Even though I subscribe to the service and I have access to all their movies, I don't have everything they offer in "my list." They aren't my taste. Likewise, there are some features on my Roku and associated apps that I have hidden from view. They aren't my taste and I'd rather them not clutter my screen.

Just because I CAN access an unlimited amount of something doesn't mean I want to.

I do like the idea of downloaded replicator patterns taking up storage space. I know with digital downloads for movies and music it's possible to run out of space. Sometimes a movie will get deleted or moved to a long-term storage area like a disc or separate hard drive that is not as easily accessed. This frees up room for more immediate demands.

No, there were no apparent problems on starships when it comes to replicator storage space, but how much variety did we really see? Maybe we just assume there was an unlimited database. Maybe a starship with over 1,000 people has more replicator storage space than an apartment that only has room for 2 full-time residents.

Now, this doesn't negate your point of view, either. Perhaps replicator patterns cost money the way games or downloaded movies cost. Perhaps people purchase replicator patterns and, until I get around to buying more patterns, the selections in my home replicator are going to be limited. That idea is just as valid except that it implies money exchanged for goods and services.

Actually i would really like it if money went the way of the dinosaurs, as hinted at in TVH and previous 24th Century Trek, but i'm simply not sure if that's still the case.

By the way, thinking a bit more about the replicator issue. As hinted at by the existence of Starfleet's Quantum Archives, it could be that the Federation solved the problems of replicated food not being identical to real food and replicators seen in Picard are more advanced than the ones seen in TNG, DS9 and Voyager and offer quantum resolution, which makes the replicated foods and drinks identical to the "real thing". Of course such patterns may need a lot more memory space...
 
Actually i would really like it if money went the way of the dinosaurs, as hinted at in TVH and previous 24th Century Trek, but i'm simply not sure if that's still the case.

By the way, thinking a bit more about the replicator issue. As hinted at by the existence of Starfleet's Quantum Archives, it could be that the Federation solved the problems of replicated food not being identical to real food and replicators seen in Picard are more advanced than the ones seen in TNG, DS9 and Voyager and offer quantum resolution, which makes the replicated foods and drinks identical to the "real thing". Of course such patterns may need a lot more memory space...
Not necessarily. Quantum archive seems more like stored transporter patterns, and they have always been able to transport things that they can't replicate. And even though 'quantum' is a common scifi buzzword, I like its use here. It implies that the archive, and thus probably transporters too operate on quantum data. This would run into no-cloning theorem which would neatly explain why transporters and replicators are different and why the former cannot duplicate things* while the latter can.

*except as as inexplicable freak accident.
 
This is an issue we are talking about in our century. Will AI, robots, 3D printing and automation achieve such sophistication and productivity, that the need for alot of human labor will be eliminated? We hear alot about Universal Basic Income to assist with displaced human workers as a result. But further along in that process could come Replicator-like 3D Printers that can make whatever you like, but they cannot make something out of nothing. You still need matter equal to whatever it is you want to make. If a moneyless economy is achievable, it could be that UBI is a minimum consignment of raw materials for your printer/replicator. Not sure how that works in practice.

What people would think of you? IDK, but I can see people who would just want to plug into their matrix-holodeck porn world and drop out of normal, productive life.
 
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I imagine the Communist utopia isn't as utopian as some folks imagine it to be.

It's not communist, which is where workers own the means of prosuction. Picard owns his vineyard, not the workers in the fields. It's post-scarcity, which generally makes ownership and most labor superfluous or at least optional. Marx doesn't work in that situation any better than Smith or Keynes.

I figured that by the 24th century, all kids on earth would be homeschooled but also be in virtual, holographic classrooms with other kids doing the same thing from their own homes (so that way they would still be able to interact with other kids and not grow up without any social skills).

Virtual classrooms only make sense if you're prepping students for a virtual world. Being able to unplug or go "AFK" instead of facing a confrontation head on.

Also, home schooled kids always, always end up weird.

So, at least in the 23rd and presumably the 24th century, too, there are people who turn their back on the homogenized, pasteurized, sterilized world of the Federation. They may live in it (until they decide to leave), but they are not actively contributing to it.

The luddites will always be with us. Thankfully, space hippies are less a threat to society than anti-vaxxers, climate deniers or quack health gurus selling orifice rocks.

Without power, the replicators wouldn't work anymore, so they would have neither holodecks nor food. And as the old Romans would tell you, the masses get restless if you withhold 'panem et circences' from them....

The Roman empire had 60 million citizens, of which 5-10,000 held an absolute monopoly on all real power. Rome had an inheritance based caste system, with the imperial, senatorial and equite (think knights) classes at the top and millions of slaves and dirt farmers on the bottom.

If the Federation was that brutally unequal, they'd worry about riots in the streets too. That doesn't appear to be the case.
 
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