[Steve_Seattle]

"With the conjunction of quantum computing and AI, the notions of quaint concepts like dating, sex, marriage, etc will all prove to be obsolete. We can already see in the marriage market - it's morphed into such a horrible bad deal for men, that they wisely stay away."

I have come to be a conspiracy theorist, and I think this is all happening because the powers-that-be do not WANT most young people to get married and have families. Thus, they are creating a world in which all the incentives to marriage and family are being weakened or eliminated.

[semantic]

You don't have to be a conspiracy factualist to understand some basic fundamental truths. First & foremost, you cannot have infinite resource consumption on a finite planet. Continued population growth combined with rote customs based on long established cultural norms (marriage, sex, children, production, consumption) will eventually reach a guranteed systemic failure.

Recognizing this reality, the PTB (in reality, their scientific advisors) are banking their hopes that technology will save humanity. But in order for this to occur, wide-scale social change will first have to be affected. For one, the economy will have to become more cerebral, more "virtual".

For example, jet airplanes consume an enormous amount of fuel flying vacationing tourists around the world to visit interesting sites. But, by utilizing Brave New World techniques in making these experiences "all in your head", the masses can stay at home and experience the same sensations as if they were really there, live and in person.

It doesn't take a great leap in thinking to recognize how these kinds of trends could be applied to all manner of social institutions. HD porn (for the guys) and social media (for the gals) are just the incipient stepping stones towards creating an all encompassing virtual reality.

With programmed, controlled breeding, different human categories can be engineered to perform "work" in this new environment. Throw in exponentially increasing technology performance improvements, and it's not hard to see a cross-over point at some point in the near future between AI and humans.

Faced with thw situation outlined above, people have a couple of choices: denial, critcism or acceptance. I choose to embrace, because in reality, "resistance is futile". Might as well enjoy the ride since no one has any real control over these trends. Trace the arc of development of mankind over millenia, and it becomes apparent it's always been an out-of-control race towards the future.