The automation revolution and the rise of the creative economy

Only three main occupations were available to intrepid job seekers 10,000 years ago: hunting, gathering and procreation. Since then, the job market has advanced dramatically, developing into something not only more diverse, but also more abstract. This progress was the result of human evolution, but also human innovation -- as the human race evolved, the scope of its needs changed (and so did the methods by which these needs were satisfied). Throughout history, we've always found ways to make our basic survival require less of our human focus, and we've witnessed subsequent booms in new professions -- specifically, vocations that didn't relate directly to merely subsisting, but thriving. In reality, the invention of flight, the moon landing and the digital revolution we saw at the end of the 20th century would not have happened if so much of our workforce hadn't been free to explore the frontiers of human understanding.