Digital Evolution Begins

Cochlear implants restore hearing. Retinal prosthetics partially restore sight. Brain-computer interfaces let paralyzed patients control cursors with thought. Neuralink has implanted its first human chip. We are becoming human-machine hybrids incrementally, one medical device at a time.

If genetic enhancement and neural augmentation become available only to the wealthy, differential access could create biological divergence between enhanced and unmodified populations. Not speciation in the technical sense, but a widening gap in capability. The merger of technology and biology is creating evolutionary pressures unlike anything in our 300,000-year history as a species.