For the vast majority of ordinary people, the "cutting-edge technology" in certain special fields was actually outdated technology discarded by the Ruling Class.
The reason they could access such products was either that the Ruling Class already had safer and more reliable replacements, or that some broader policy had changed.
Lin Qi had encountered something similar once. He caught a cold and developed a fever.
The medicine prescribed by the hospital did not work very well, and his fever kept coming back.
Later, a friend told him about a Special Medicine that was highly effective. Lin Qi went to the doctor who had prescribed it for his friend, hoping to get a course of treatment, but the doctor flatly denied ever prescribing such medicine to anyone.
The doctor even told him that no such medicine existed because it had never been imported.
He returned to his friend, who was somewhat surprised. Then the friend wrote him a note. Its contents were simple—
"Lin Qi is seriously ill and awaiting recovery. Please approve... two pills."
"Signature"
The note contained fewer than twenty characters in total. Lin Qi took it and found the doctor again.
The doctor warmly received Lin Qi as if nothing had happened before. After reading the note, he took it away, then handed Lin Qi two pills.
The medicine was highly effective. One pill took effect immediately, and he did not even need to take the second before his fever had completely subsided.
His cold symptoms also disappeared soon afterward.
Not every invention or advancement that could be applied to all of humanity was beneficial.
Nature had a "carrying capacity." Take immortality, for example. If everyone could live long enough, the population would explode.
If there had been no Ice Age, then a population explosion would not have