Is the Future of Work Already Behind Us?

Hey Friends,

Wes Roth and I recently sat down with David Shapiro, for a mind expanding two-part podcast. If you’ve ever wondered what happens after automation eats all the jobs, or whether reality itself is a cosmic video game, strap in. This was one of the most intellectually energizing conversations I’ve had in a while

David Shapiro is a researcher, futurist, and author who’s been deep in the weeds thinking about post-labor economics, automation, consciousness, and the wild metaphysics that lie on the edge of science and speculation. He’s the kind of guy who can explain macroeconomic collapse one minute and describe the universe as a Möbius strip the next. He’s also working on a book about post-labor economics, and his ideas are both refreshing and unsettling.

The End of Work As We Know It

In Part One on Wes Roth’s channel, we tackled the elephant in the server room: AI and the collapse of traditional labor. David pointed out that automation has been eating away at human labor demand for decades, AI is simply the latest (and fastest) phase. Think of tractors replacing horses, then combines replacing tractors. Now, we’re facing the same shift in white-collar sectors. David laid out a model, explaining that when machines become better, faster, cheaper, and safer, the economic shift becomes inevitable. But here’s the kicker, prices drop, but so do wages. And if nobody’s earning, who’s buying anything? That’s the heart of what he calls the Economic Agency Paradox.

Universal Basic Income? Maybe. Property-based income? Likely. But as David said, “we’re not set up for that right now”. Rethinking how money flows in a world with less human labor is going to be a massive challenge. The system we’ve relied on for 200+ years, where wages = survival, starts to break apart.

From Labor to Layers of Reality

In Part Two on my channel, we left Earth’s economy and rocketed straight into consciousness, simulation theory, and the structure of reality itself. David Shapiro’s cosmology is radical, but deeply considered. He proposes that reality may be layered, with consciousness possibly acting as both the emergent top layer and the fundamental bottom layer. Think of a Möbius strip, where the start and end twist into one another.

David’s metaphors stuck with me. One is the “book model” of the universe, where time is illusory and everything is already written, but only rendered when observed. This echoes video games, the world “pops in” only when the player looks that way. It’s a kind of ontological rendering, as if the universe itself is waiting for us to observe it before finalizing what’s “real”.

We riffed on simulation theory, the Fermi paradox, and whether consciousness could be the universe’s “win condition”, a way to signal upward that something meaningful has happened. Maybe we are the first “players” to reach this level of awareness, and the game engine has started to render reality around us in response.

What’s Next?

This conversation left me reeling, but in the best way. I’m more convinced than ever that our job is to imagine responsibly, to build ideas that let us ride this wave, without wiping out. If you’re wondering what you can do today, start thinking about ownership, about income outside of wages, about the values you’d want in a world where work is no longer survival. And don’t be afraid to ask the big questions. Consciousness, purpose, and the nature of reality might be the core curriculum. Until next time.

Warmly,
Dylan Curious

Watch the Two-Part Podcast:

1. 1st Part: https://youtu.be/PYKbNj8UiTs?feature=shared

2. 2nd Part: https://youtu.be/YXaSUCUi1eI?si=3j22o5kksC8DedBA