San Junipero: A Literal Capitalist Heaven

San Junipero is fascinating and opens up questions of consciousness, religion, and capitalism. A fully interactive digital world is in our hands by 2045 according to Ray Kurzweil, the director of engineering at a little company called Google. According to Kurzweil, our "bodies will be replaced by machines within 90 years and we will be able to upload our entire minds into computers within 30." San Junipero in the episode cost by the hour/week, it is interesting to wonder what the price would be in real life if Google were to offer what humanity seeks in television, film, music, and most art forms; an escape. With a movie ticket costing $10-$15 for 2 hours of entertainment, would a digital world with unlimited night clubs, sandy beaches, fast cars, and social interaction without any of the physical risks or inconveniences be only accessible to the wealthiest? Technology follows a trend of dropping in price dramatically a year or two after its release, but would the wealthy and powerful see this year as a chance to write up the rules for the world in which we will all subsequently live in? Certainly if we were to upload our minds into computers, the people running, making, and owning the computers would have extraordinary control over our actions, thoughts, and emotions; especially if one entity is responsible for all. This would most likely be the case as we run Google android software on Google phones to run applications from the Google Play Store and Google search things on Google Chrome. A digital world with no repercussions or limits would however provide extremely poor or disabled people with a much higher standard of life; theoretically, one could fit in a drawer in a big cabinet of unconscious humans, tube fed for life and costing the real world minimal resources as one lives lavishly in the digital life. The purpose, security, and control of "singularity" or this digital combination of consciousness and interactivity are things that must be figured out before the mechanics and execution of it.