The door to class leap is slowly closing.
Historically, there have been dynastic changes, industrial revolutions, and waves of the internet, and in every era, there are people who make a comeback. Why do we now say that opportunities are actually decreasing?
If we look at this issue from the perspective of technological structure and social structure, it can actually be understood from three angles.
1. Technological explosion is often accompanied by resource concentration.
(Three-Body) has a very important concept: technological explosion.
Technological development does not progress uniformly, but rather leaps suddenly after long-term accumulation. AI, automation, biotechnology, and computational revolution—these technologies are rapidly enhancing productivity. However, technological revolutions often lead to a result: resources become increasingly concentrated. This is because the research and development of new technologies require huge capital, top talent, and massive data, and ultimately, those who can control these resources are usually a few large institutions or tech companies.
As the technical threshold becomes higher, ordinary people's opportunities to enter the core production system will naturally decrease.
Opportunities have not completely disappeared, but the number of people who can seize them has decreased.
2. If lifespan is extended, elite advantages will be magnified.
AI will not only change production methods but may also change human lifespan.
Some scientists predict that in the coming decades, human lifespan may be significantly extended, even nearing 150 years.
The reason is that AI has already brought breakthroughs in multiple medical fields, such as: protein structure analysis, drug development, disease prediction, etc.
What will happen if lifespan is really significantly extended?
In the past, a person's golden development period was about 40 years. If lifespan extends to 150 years, the core competition period may become over 100 years.
Imagine a scenario:
A top investor at 140 years old is still making decisions in the market, accumulating resources, and continuing to compound returns.
Time itself will become an advantage.
Of course, ordinary people can theoretically live longer.
But the reality is that the first to enjoy cutting-edge medical resources are often the wealthiest individuals.
When the advantage of time overlaps with the advantage of capital, class differences may be further magnified.
3. In the era of automation, the entry point for ordinary people is decreasing.
The internet age actually opened a huge window for ordinary people once.
E-commerce, social media, and content platforms have enabled many ordinary people to achieve life transformations.
The reason is simple: the internet has significantly reduced the cost of starting a business and the cost of information.
As long as a person has a computer and internet, there is an opportunity to do business, create content, and make products.
But a new wave of technology is changing this.
With the development of AI and automation, many industries will become increasingly capital and technology-intensive.
The future of manufacturing may look like this:
No-humans factory.
Dark factory.
Fully automated supply chain.
An automated system can complete the entire process from production to sales.
Under this structure, traditional self-made success is becoming increasingly difficult, as the starting point itself has turned into a complete set of technical systems.
4. Why Web3 may still be a rare open window.
If the upward channels of many traditional industries are tightening, then there is one field that still maintains a relatively open structure: Web3 / Crypto.
The reason is simple:
It is still in the early stages.
Almost all class leap opportunities in history have occurred when new technologies first appeared.
Industrial revolution → Manufacturing capitalists.
Early internet → A group of internet entrepreneurs.
Mobile internet → Content platform entrepreneurs.
Essentially, every technological revolution briefly opens a window.
And Web3 is still in a position similar to the early internet, with a low threshold.
In many industries, the cost of starting a business is getting higher.
But in the Web3 field, many things still start out very simply:
One person + one computer.
You can: write content, conduct research, build communities, trade, participate in projects.
Many early practitioners actually entered the industry this way.
The cognitive gap still exists.
Crypto is still a market with extremely asymmetric information.
In mature industries, information is usually very transparent.
But in Web3: new narratives are constantly emerging, project cycles are very short, and the market is highly volatile.
Many times, the cognitive gap itself is an opportunity.
Whoever understands a certain narrative earlier will find it easier to gain excess returns.
Web3 also has a special feature:
The cycle is very obvious.
Bull markets create wealth,
Bear markets will reshuffle the deck.
Many who later became core figures in the industry actually entered during bear markets.
Because bear markets mean: reduced competition, decreased attention, and lower costs.
When the next cycle arrives, $BTC $ETH positions will have already been occupied.