As our industrial economy marches on to greater and greater productivity and more and more automation, the question arises as to what the future economic role of individuals will be.  Are we headed towards an apocalyptic world of Matrix where robots dominate and humans are simply batteries?

The answer is a resounding no.  We are headed towards the "meaning" economy.  In this economy people pay each other for the production of meaning.  What does this mean?

In effect people will pay other people (or organizations) because they do things that add meaning to their lives.  A good example is music.  Current thinking argues that music is purchased because it is entertainment.  But I argue that a more accurate view is that music is purchased because it produces meaning in a person's life.  Similar examples can be applied to books, or movies, education, or even going to a therapist.

But what is meaning?

In effect meaning is what enables people to do two things:

1.    Live in the phenomenal world.  By this I mean mediating emotions, coping, coming to terms with, accepting, and whatever it takes to interface with a world that often is contrary to our human sensibility.

2.    Grow in consciousness.  This in the past was known as becoming spiritual, but in this new rational scientific age, the term spirituality is so muddied with dogma and superstition, that consciousness carries more significance.

Of course, there will always be some part of the economy engaged in producing the material good necessary to physically live.  But this part of the economy has continuously shrunk over the last few hundred years. 

Some will also argue that with the impending demise of the oil economy we will revert back to the old ways of less automation.  Perhaps we will to some extent, especially when it comes to growing food.  But this cannot hold true for as we invent new technologies to harness the power of the sun, we are likely to increase automation not decrease it, even though we might suffer temporary reversions from time to time.

In the long term, as productivity grows, and we learn how to curb greed, and regulate the excessive concentration of wealth, individuals will find more free time on their hands, and assuming that the human soul aspires to be useful, we will find ways of acquiring meaning, and in turn producing meaning for others: in effect, the ultimate service economy.