Human Capital

Wikipedia defines “human capital” as the “stock of competences, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.” It is also described as “the attributes gained by a worker through education and experience.” Our readings this week, however, allow us to imagine how technology, particularly in the sphere of bio-genetic engineering, can revolutionize and re-conceptualize labor. In Moon, the need for human capital is reduced considerably by automation; all Lunar Industries needs is one person to oversee its helium-3 harvesters. Unfortunately, it costs quite a lot of money to house and compensate someone for the lonely mission, so Lunar Industries figures out a way to cut the latter cost. That is, they create a system that replaces clones every 3 years so that they would never have to pay for the minimal amount of human capital required to run their operation.

Moon challenges the way we think about labor by putting a price on the creation of life—and, of course, the playing of God. Lunar Industries is presumably driven by the value of its bottom line; by effectively reducing labor costs to zero, they no doubt maximize their profits in a big way. At the same time, they provide an important and rare source of clean energy. Perhaps the astronomical costs of attaining this energy simply make paying someone the amount of money necessary to compensate a 3-year sentence to the moon impossible from a business standpoint. If this were the case, how does one begin to balance the price of individual human lives (albeit artificially created ones with implanted memories) against the desperation of humanity's energy crisis?

Sleep Dealer, meanwhile, imagines the future of labor as robotic drones controlled by third world workers across great distances. Here, the value of human capital remains essentially unchanged; it is the demand for actual humans that has declined. This conceptualization of high-tech labor highlights the dichotomy of man and machine, equating them in a productive and mutually beneficial relationship. At the same time, however, the source of this productivity stem directly from the human element. The machine element only enhances the application.

Notably, I thought that this week's texts really epitomized Margaret Atwood's assertion that science fiction allows us to explore the consequences of our deepest, darkest desires. Both of the films treat manpower (as Josh might put it) as a valuable commodity and thus something that could be exploited with technology. Moon's juxtaposition of cloning, labor, and business emphasize not only the greed of capitalism, but also the ingenuity and innovation that spawns from such greed. Sleep Dealer also explores the power of dissociation between thought and action: the long-distance drone control technology is also used in the military, and to great effect. Such dissociation challenges traditional notions of accountability while expanding the potential of human capital. How might one apply himself when it is not his body he is applying? How might he work or fight if he need not worry about physical danger or potential trauma? Most importantly, how will mankind's propensity for vice interact with his advancement in technology?

Plugging in: Futuristic Labor Opportunities in "Nova" and “Sleep Dealer”

Both Nova and “Sleep Dealer” introduce a novel new system of labor: humans as part of the machines they work with. In both the book and the movie, workers are implanted with “nodes” or “sockets” that interact directly with their nervous systems, allowing them to control larger machines by literally plugging themselves in and engaging in what I understood to be a sort of virtual reality interface. What I found striking, however, was the difference in the way each work describes the societal impact of the two nearly identical technologies.

In Nova, Katin explains the introduction of neural plugs as a psychologically beneficial method of labor, developed by psychologist cum pseudo-deity Ashton Clark in an attempt to reverse the mental damage wrought by the labor practices we, the 21^st century readers, consider modern. He explains,

There was no direct connection between where he worked and how he ate and lived the rest of the time…Ashton Clark pointed out how psychologically damaging this was to humanity. The entire sense of self-control and self-responsibility… was seriously threatened… He [Man] must exert energy in his work and see these changes occur with his own eyes. Otherwise he would feel his life was futile (195).

On the other hand, in “Sleep Dealer”, the “plug-in” system seems to act as the ultimate distancing agent. Not only are workers hired without knowing what job they’ll be doing, they don’t even need to reside in the same country as the machine that they’re controlling. The surreal nature of this sort of work takes a dangerous turn when it becomes military. Working from his distant controls to a soundtrack of canned applause and supportive commentary, Rudy is so removed from the death and destruction he is causing that it is not until coming into direct contact with Memo’s story that the video game-like illusion is broken and his actions begin to feel real.

While these two presentations oppose each other, I personally do not believe that the effects of the plugs are that black and white in Nova vs. “Sleep Dealer”. Despite Katin’s words, the neural plugs in Nova are not without negative consequence. Although the work seems more direct than in “Sleep Dealer” (the workers remain in the same location as the machine, and seem to choose their own work rather than being assigned a position), the ease with which workers can slip into and out of jobs seems to limit ambition, at least in the working class. Without the need to dedicate themselves to learning a chosen trade, the crew members that Lorq recruits have grown up to be somewhat listless, even apathetic. While they have their chosen individual pursuits (Katin’s novel, Mouse’s instrument, etc.), these pursuits never graduate from hobby to vocation. This state of mind leaves the crewmember ripe for the picking when Lorq recruits them, ready to be swept off, unquestioning, into the grayish power games of the wealthy and powerful. Ashton Clark may have intended to restore a “sense of self-control and self-responsibility” with his new method of labor, but the crewmembers’ willingness to drop everything to blindly follow Lorq suggests quite the opposite.