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[–]Vigte 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Of course it will... and there are a bunch of reasons.

The ones you stated - such as profit and cost to produce will be limiting factors for the beginning - meaning only the elite can afford it, but there is more:

After some time - certainly it will go down in price, allowing an entrenched buffer-class to come into existence, between the elite and the mortals, likely requiring costly upgrades or "refills" or "check ups" - to keep the middle class, middle.

By then, however - the realisation that a world of immortals is a BAD idea, will be widely understood - and political, economic and social engineering will occur to legitimize it being only for the elite. That's when the the true breakaway will begin.

In the words of Sean Parker:

"So ... I'm going to be like 160 and I'm going to be part of this, like, class of immortal overlords. [Laughter] Because, you know the [Warren Buffett] expression about compound interest. ... Give us billionaires an extra hundred years and you'll know what ... wealth disparity looks like."


Now, assuming trans-humanism DOES NOT involve immortality - merely a high-bandwidth neural connection to the network - then you will see the inevitable and COMPLETE take over of humanity by the implant.

In the beginning, it will be used to "bring sight back to the blind" or let the crippled walk again - all well and dandy, but when the door is open an inch, prepare for the public to blast it off the hinges.

Eventually, the tech will become more powerful and its efficiency will seep into the workplace - and eventually the decision will be made (at a corporate level) to prefer augmented applicants over normals.

At that point, you will basically need the upgrade to be considered "financially valuable", to get a job or to even compete at any level - be it kindergarten, university or the job site.