ThymineC wrote:5anitybane wrote:Grumblesaur wrote:I would say a mix of wholly biological sentients, androids and cyborgs, and full-blown robots.
Exactly my selected options as well. Makes sense to have biologicals for those unable to afford purchasing more expensive robotics, then the middle-ground of androids/cyborgs for those slightly better off, and full-blown, highly-efficient robots for the wealthy entrepreneurs.
So in your view, being more mechanical is considered to be the more desirable option within the LT universe?
In short, yes. For more in-depth thoughts, see below, but they have more of a grounding in perception of the universe moreso than what the workers actually are (commodities).
My thought processes are that biological life-forms are efficient, but also potentially cheap as labour. Businesses could import races accustomed to labourious tasks, and perhaps those accustomed to lesser wages, and could be paid more than they would back on their world, but still less than other galactic races. It also brings illegitimacy into the equation, where businesses could act illegally and purchase slaves as workers. However, the underlying potential problem down the road, is that many biological life-forms have brains, morals, ethics, and a sense of self-worth. This can lead to dislike of the employer, rebellion, refusal to work, lawsuits, and all manner of other costly drawbacks for the employer.
Enter the android or cyborg. A human-like robot would remove some of the problems of a purely biological life-form, but not all of them. Since they'd be human-esque in both structure and mentality to a degree, they could also feel they're being treated unfairly, and pursue termination of work contracts, escape, or prosecute the employer. With cyborgs, biological life-forms could be altered to mix and match with benefits and drawbacks, but still have the drawbacks of being able to be injured and require longer healing depending on with elements are cybernetic. If legs were mechanical but arms were not, perhaps they'd break an arm, or vice-versa. Additionally, the process of requiring mechanical parts to work in unison with organic tissue, organs and muscles, would be more complex than a purely non-mechanical or mechanical worker.
Pure robotic workers would be perfect for employers, because they require no sentience, just restricted programming to function in their allotted tasks. They could be more efficiently replaced or repaired as the time taken to repair relies merely on the parts and the repairer, not a time-bound healing requirement in the case of human tissue and muscle. Due to no sentience, there is little to no chance of insurrection, and other penalties for the employer. They can also be manufactured for their specific tasks, therefore excelling in their task more than a unit with a breadth of abilities, but no specialisation. They can also be given structure and parts to handle such tasks, for example, a Heavy Lifter could have quite a bulky frame, compression legs and suspension to handle varying weights. However, due to their requirement of parts and having to be manufactured to quality standards, as well as software configuration, updates, regular maintenance checks and the ilk, they would be more expensive than the aforementioned options. However, I view this to be the ultimate desire for a business considering having efficient workers, because there's minimal risk, maximum efficiency, and easier management.