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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Misanthrope Prime" data-source="post: 9855612" data-attributes="member: 6776166">In theory, from a pure economic perspective, one must ask what the "point" of eating out is. Is it merely offloading the labor of cooking and preparing food onto someone else, a literal exchange of money for a good and a service?Or are you going to a restaurant for the experience, the ritual, the "theater" of fine dining? The "May I take your coat sir" and the "Excellent choice sir" and the "Is everything to your liking?" of the white tablecloths and stuffed shirts?If the telos of the restaurant is the former, then the labor provided by the server and the wages paid to them are wasted, much like friction generates heat in a machine that simply radiates into the air rather than being put to use. If one were to better design the machine and use frictionless materials, that energy could be recaptured into the system, or in this case, eliminating the waiter should in theory pass the savings on to the consumer.But if it's the latter, then until we have machines that are 100% indistinguishable from humans, and part of what you're paying for is the idea that you are getting attention and service from someone who is choosing to engage in the ritual that brings you comfort, then, sure, you're allowed to prefer it. But you have to acknowledge then this is a matter of subjectivity, not an engineering problem.</blockquote>