History Main / HumansAdvanceSwiftly

* The To'ul'h civilization has been agricultural for over 100,000 years and the Muuh civilization has been spacefaring for ''tens of millions'' of years by the time Terragens arrive on the scene in ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm''. Over that time, the To'ul'h have made gradual but small advances, and the Muuh have been extremely stolid and unchanging. Yet in their 10,000 years in space, the terragens (not ''humans'' per se, but still, humanity's creations and descendants) have crossed '''''six''''' [[TheSingularity singularities]].

* Of the World of Ulella Nor: The main character comes from an alien race whose advanced technology took millions of years to design and repeatedly test for errors. After giving the humans a head start in mathematics that supposedly would take '400 years, minimum' for any species to progress into nuclear weapons, they figure it out in less than a century, dumbfounding the main character with how humans are equal parts barbaric and ingenious.
* ''Literature/WearingPowerArmorToAMagicSchool'': In comparison to almost every other race in the galaxy, who have access to magic and have long since migrated to an alternate dimension with near-unlimited raw resources and stable FTL trade routes, humans have been ''forced'' to advance swiftly because they couldn't cut corners with magic - as their ability to tolerate magic devolved and has outright become a WeaksauceWeakness. While magic has its own technology tree and the galactic community is on par with humans in terms of military potential, the importance of using bodily magic to power everything means the they are eternally stuck in a FeudalFuture; the magic-saturated nobles are incapable of realizing their LowCultureHighTech lifestyle is holding them back from swifter progress and true greatness - if they aren't abusing their magically-deficient slaves for the lulz. Whereas the humans understand that progress can branch out in many ways, the arrogant nobles are incapable of realizing that some upstart commoner human has a different form of 'magic' and can run circles around them (and quickly learn all their darkest secrets).

* This trope is very much TruthInTelevision. Before the "mental revolution" in African Homo sapiens about 70,000 years ago, it was the norm for lithic industries to remain unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years, even as their makers evolved in completely new biological species. If we factor in the tools made by non-hominids like bird nests and insect-catching sticks, we may conclude that the norm is for technology to remain unchanged for millions of years.

** Tony Stark improving his PowerArmour to the point where in an ordinary suit of Earth-based materials, he can overpower Volstagg, one of the most physically powerful Asgardians outside Heimdall and the Royal Family. The most powerful, Project Prometheus, is noted as being - even when incomplete - "a planetary scale emergency" all by itself.

* Another example from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fanfiction is ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9271192/1/Transcendent-Humanity Transcendent Humanity]]''. While the Council civilization is stuck in a [[SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale time warp]] - largely unchanged since its inception - Humanity has advanced all the way from destroying Earth's ozone layer by burning fossil fuels to become a full-blown [[JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit Type II civilization]]. [[DysonSphere They lift matter from the Sun for energy consumption and basic construction material.]] This practice has actually extended the Sun's lifespan. [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Most of the population - hovering around two trillion - lives in quantum substrates, but can download themselves into on-demand bodies instantly, organic or robotic, as current circumstances demand.]] And that's really just the mundane, daily-grind stuff. Humans did all of this not merely inspite of, but ''because'' they did not discover the 'Mass Effect'. Humans did not develop FTL, AIs, interstellar colonization, or encounter another space-faring civilization for over two thousand years, and got along just fine. [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum So much for the Magic Space Dust...]]

--> '''Ax:''' <At times you humans truly scare me. A mere four decades from first orbital spaceflight to the discovery of Zero-space communication? We Andalites may wind up wishing we'd left you to the Yeerks.>
--> '''Rachel:''' So far, you Andalites pretty much ''have'' left us to the Yeerks.

* A major plot point in the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' novelizations. Humans are the only species known that don't reincarnate (with full memory), which oddly enough makes humans much ''less'' cautious and more eager to advance. The enemy demons in the books scouted Earth around the 15th century, saw the Age of Sail, and left to report back, figuring that when they returned in 600 years (space travel being subject to relativity), humans would still be working with archaic weapons and would be an easy conquest. The fact that humans managed to get to Mars in that time frame scares the crap out of the entire galactic community. In the end of the series, another species is met that advances even ''faster'' [[spoiler: and ends up being the true threat]].

* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', humanity advances swiftly through reverse-engineering captured alien technology (not to mention having the [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Asgard]] just ''hand'' humanity all of their technological knowledge when they realise that they're about to die, along with giving all their ships a serious tune-up - though as is pointed out, actually accessing and understanding that knowledge, let alone implementing it is going to take a ''very'' long time). That said, this trope applies because it honestly seems as if ''no other species'' has had any significant technological advances in millennia. For example, the technology used by the Goa'uld of 3000 BC (as seen in the episode "Moebius") is no different from what is being used by the Goa'uld in the present day.
** Justified in the case of the Goa'uld. It is heavily implied that they have stolen all of their technology, as befitting their nature as parasites, and with the exception of only a few characters (primarily, Ba'al and Nirrti), none of the race is ever shown to have any interest in developing technology on their own. They're much happier sitting on their thrones and ruling over legions of slaves - though the smarter ones do come to realise that if they don't at least partially adapt, then the Tau'ri will keep picking them off.

*** The Tollan are beating Earth humans by a few centuries (and they don't like to share their tech - suggested to be on the grounds that the last time they ''did'' share their tech with a less advanced civilisation, they blasted themselves to pieces with it - so the Tau'ri never reverse engineer it like they do with Goa'uld and Asgard tech). Unfortunately for them, they also seem content to take a measured path towards progress, are somewhat naive and militarily speaking, are entirely dependent on their technology - if it doesn't work, they run out of ideas. When Anubis finds a way to counter their only means of planetary defense, they agree to help him develop phasing [=WMDs=]... instead of using those against him.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'' humanity went from a primitive ability to cross their own solar system to one of the setting's major powers, with relatively advanced technology, in less than a hundred years. [[JustifiedTrope There's a good reason for it]]: the Centauri, the race that discovered humanity, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum started selling Earth Alliance what for them was antiquated technology]] planning to make humans dependent on them and slowly subjugate them economically and then politically, a plan that was actually working on some members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds (an alliance created specifically to ''counter them''), only to be caught by surprise when Earth studied how they worked, made their own (often more primitive) version, and advanced from ''that'' - that is, ''exactly what the Centauri would have done'' (and do with every piece of technology they get their hands on) - before starting to actively look for advanced technology all over space. The Centauri and the Minbari still outclass humanity, and [[{{Precursors}} the First Ones]] are even more advanced, but by the time of the series the gap has been greatly reduced.

** Granted, the Vilani are [[TransplantedHumans humans as well]], they just had an over-emphasis on conservatism. The Third Imperium (ruled by a mix of both races) is a heterogenous mix of high- and low- tech planets.

** The humans of the Empire are one of the most technologically advanced races in the whole setting, possessing cannons and muskets aplenty, the odd rifle, a handful of steam-powered tanks, and even clockwork horses. Most of the really cool technological marvels come out of the city of Nuln and the city's technology is only surpassed by that of the Dwarfs, the Chaos Dwarfs and the Skaven, though these races have all pretty much fallen into MedievalStasis - the Dwarfs refuse to use anything that hasn't been tested for at least two hundred years (and even then you still have some who think gunpowder is a newfangled fad that isn't worth a good crossbow), the Chaos Dwarfs are very few in number and prefer to rely on slave labour, and the Skaven are fractured by constant infighting and rarely ever unite long enough to threaten anybody else. The Empire meanwhile are building new stuff every day.

* In ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'' ([[AllThereInTheManual as explained in the manual]]), 100,000 years ago, while humanity hadn't even begun to form civilizations, the Arceans and [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Drengin]] had fission power and stargates. 100,000 years later, they haven't really advanced on either front, while humanity has come out of nowhere and, after the Arceans shared the stargate technology, humanity combined this technology with the front on which we had advanced beyond the Arceans and Drengin - fusion power - and created [[FasterThanLightTravel hyperdrive]], enabling ships to independently travel faster than light for the first time since the Precursors died out.

** Later in the series the wormhole back to Earth that was originally sealed to stop the terraformers is re-opened, and eventually the Argon find themselves at the receiving end of an ass-kicking of their own - administered by the original Terrans, who prove that the only species capable of faster development than humans are, of course, ''other humans''.

** One of the great advantages of humanity in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''. In a matter of months, humanity goes from being armed with conventional weapons - akin to peashooters when compared to the aliens' equipment - to reverse-engineering their armor, power sources, weaponry, and psionics to field soldiers better armed than the enemy's frontline troops, and equipping fighter craft that are better-armed than their ''battleships''. [[spoiler: That was all part of the Ethereals' plan; they wanted an intelligent, strong species to add to their collective, and humans were ideal to that end. Too bad for them that humanity proves [[GoneHorriblyRight too good at the job]]. Specifically, they wanted a strong, smart race that was also capable of using [[PsychicPowers the Gift]], since most of their other subjects are, basically, failures]].

* A critical element of ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', wherein the demons from Hell periodically send recon into Earth to make sure the "cattle" that they feed on are still progressing as expected. They do this regularly, by ''their'' standards - which means once every two hundred years, for an immortal species like they are. Despite the gradual advances of human technology over many thousands of years, they're still unable to mount any kind of serious counter to anything the demons possess, what with their superhuman strength and toughness, sheer numbers, and supernatural abilities. As a result, when [[GodIsEvil Yahweh declares open season on humanity]], the [[HellOnEarth demons roll onto Earth]] expecting at best to be facing [[CurbstompBattle armies still using muzzle-loading cannons, muskets, and swords]]. Instead, [[SuperweaponSurprise they meet jet fighters, gunships, tanks, and rocket artillery.]]

** Mousterian or "Mode III" tools were used by the Neanderthals of Europe from 160,000 to 40,000 years ago. A brief, enigmatic new technology known as Chatelperronian (45,000 - 40,000 years ago) has been interpreted as Neanderthal attempts to imitate the Aurignacian or "Mode IV" used by newly arrived ''H. sapiens''. If true, this means Neanderthals were smart enough to realize their technology was outclassed upon meeting ''H. sapiens'', yet it didn't occur to them to improve on their technology before that.

For every species bar one, MedievalStasis is how the world works. Changes in technology and society take hundreds of years, and any existing alien civilization or elf kingdom today looks more or less the same as it did a century ago - or will in a century more. For most races in the setting, slow change is the norm.

* ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'': It's repeatedly brought up that humans advance far more swiftly than Sqids (the setting's other sapient race), to the point where Sam [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3600/fc03570.htm estimates that]] even if Sqid scholars spent all their time doing nothing but reading humanity's papers, we would still keep producing new advances faster than the Sqids could copy from us.

* This is one of the driving themes behind ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. However, the main galaxy-changing human invention (the teraport) has actually been created numerous times; it's just that time around, due to the inventor joining a highly competent mercenary company by pure chance and spamming the galaxy with the design once he realized what was happening, the secret got out before it could be suppressed.
** Later in the comics, humans are revealed to already be ahead of the curve in two other technologies that turn out to be recurring in the Milky Way's cycle of RecursivePrecursors: The UNS developed a Long Gun decades if not centuries before widespread use of the teraport, and having an active immortality/SuperSoldier programme in Project Laz'R'Us. Both of these are military secrets the UNS are willing to kill to keep suppressed.

-->'''Soval''': There are those on the High Command who wonder what Humans would achieve in the century to come, and they don't like the answer.

* This is part of why Thundercracker quits the war and throws his lot in with Earth in ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW''. Being stranded on Earth for a year and half and [[AliensStealCable knicking some TV]] to keep entertained, he saw that humans did more in that time than their entire race had done in millions of years besides find new years to blow each other up.
-->"The are few things currently on Earth that have lasted as long as we have. [...] I used to find that transience laughably fragile. But I see now that it's actually a strength I'm just beginning to grasp. [...] I believe I'm finally understanding the meaning of the word... "beautiful". I can't think of the last time we created anything. We have so much to learn here."

* Most monsters have Telepathy in ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'' so don't use maps or writing and can't pass as much knowledge onto their children so humans are the most advanced civilization.

* In ''Literature/RhythmOfWar'', the Fused Raboniel [[DiscussedTrope mentions this fact]] about why she admires humanity unlike the rest of her kin who want to KillAllHumans. She compares humanity's technological advancements across history as "the sprinter" compared to the immortal Fused's "steady runner", who suffer CreativeSterility in comparison.

* One of the great advantages of humanity in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''. In a matter of months, humanity goes from being armed with conventional weapons - akin to peashooters when compared to the aliens' equipment - to reverse-engineering their armor, power sources, weaponry, and psionics to field soldiers better armed than the enemy's frontline troops, and equipping fighter craft that are better-armed than their ''battleships''. [[spoiler: That was all part of the Ethereals' plan; they wanted an intelligent, strong species to add to their collective, and humans were ideal to that end. Too bad for them that humanity proves [[GoneHorriblyRight too good at the job]]. Specifically, they wanted a strong, smart race that was also capable of using [[PsychicPowers the Gift]], since most of their other subjects are, basically, failures]].

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'' humanity went from a primitive ability to cross their own solar system to one of the setting's major powers, with relatively advanced technology, in less than a hundred years. [[JustifiedTrope There's a good reason for it]]: the Centauri, the race that discovered humanity, [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum started selling Earth Alliance what for them was antiquated technology]] planning to make humans dependant on them and slowly subjugate them economically and then politically, a plan that was actually working on some members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds (an alliance created specifically to ''counter them''), only to be caught by surprise when Earth studied how they worked and made their own (often more primitive) version and advance from ''that''-that is, ''exactly what the Centauri would have done'' (and do with every piece of technology they get their hands on)-before starting to actively look for advanced technology all over space. The Centauri and the Minbari still outclass humanity, and [[{{Precursors}} the First Ones]] are even more advanced, but by the time of the series the gap has been greatly reduced.

* In the ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' universe, Arkonids have had an empire for 20 thousand years, Akonids have stopped caring about space and became reclusionist about that long ago. Yet neither has ever explored all the galaxy, not even talking about anything beyond. Humanity needs about 200 years from being gifted a drive to produce as many ships as the Arkonid empire, reverse-engineer a different type of hyperdrive, make the traditional one require way less fuel and jump way further, and find stealth methods to prevent detection of the use of the jump drives. In about 600 years Earth is destroyed and humans become kinda nomadic, leading to them travelling to other galaxies. At least the Terrans get help from some Arkonids and from the best microtechnicians in the known part of the galaxy. Until after a few hundred years mutated humans who are only 20 cm tall are better microtechnicians than the ones which used to help them.

* In Creator/HarryTurtledove's ''Literature/{{Worldwar}}'' series, the lizard-like Race is absolutely '''''amazed''''' that humanity has gone from swords and chainmail to internal combustion engines and radio in only a mere 800 years, when it took their own race tens of thousands of years to make the same advances. They are also amazed that mankind is so willing to advance in the first place. To the conservative Lizards, technology needs several thousands of years to be refined, introduced, and integrated into civilian life. Mankind is willing to strap tubes full of explosives onto a box and call it a spaceship, regardless of how well it works. The Race took generations to even conceive of most advances even when they had all the pieces, while humans make the intuitive leap of combining the pieces almost immediately, even if they're not able to do the actual engineering yet (after building a crude guided missile and an atomic bomb, humanity immediately came up with the idea of a nuclear missile, even if they also knew it would take several generations of both parts to reduce the warhead size and improved the rocket power before such a missile could blow up anything other than the launch pad). The Race also assumed that they already knew everything, so after a hundred years or so, humans are doing crazy things they never even dreamed of ([[spoiler:like FTL travel]]).

* Played with in ''Videogame/EndlessSpace'''s [[HumansAreDivided multiple human factions]]. The Vaulters, a human empire originating from a LostColony, are among the best scientists in the known universe, but they are beaten by the eternally curious [[ProudScholarRaceGuy Sophon aliens]]. On the other hand, the Vaulters are not completely incompetent at combat [[CripplingOverspecialization like the Sophons are]]. The Pilgrims receive indirect science and cash bonuses via their ability to easily establish trade routes, and the United Empire and Sheredyn's industrial might allows them to churn out scientific data.

* The atevi of the ''Literature/{{Foreigner}}'' series developed their technology a lot more slowly than humans did, which puzzled humans a great deal, since the atevi are just as smart as humans while being [[GoodWithNumbers much better at math]]. The humans eventually decided it was due to two things:

* In ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'', humans made a start in the sector as a few tens-of-thousands about 200 years ago, but are now a credible power. in comparison, its debatable whether the Zerg advance at all (and all of the maybe advancement in the games at least has been at the hands of Kerrigan), and the Protoss advance so slowly that it takes a major war to get anything moving at all (and half the new weapons in the second game are apparently stuff they've had stashed away for centuries).

* In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' both the Klingons and the Vulcans (and thus the Romulans) are barely less advanced then they are in the era of Kirk a century later and have been in space a lot longer than humanity has. The Bajorans have also had interstellar capability for centuries longer than humanity. Humanity not only catches up with all of these races (and passes the Bajorans by in the process), they become the driving force behind technological advancement in the entire known galaxy.
** Given that Earth had a nuclear war just a century ago, Vulcans of the ENT-era find the rapid technological advancement of the humans to be a bit worrisome.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', the humans of the Empire are one of the most technologically advanced races in the whole setting, possessing cannons and muskets aplenty, the odd rifle, a handful of steam-powered tanks, and even clockwork horses. Most of the really cool technological marvels come out of the city of Nuln and the city's technology is only surpassed by that of the Dwarfs, the Chaos Dwarfs and the Skaven, though these races have all pretty much fallen into MedievalStasis - the Dwarfs refuse to use anything that hasn't been tested for at least two hundred years, the Chaos Dwarfs are very few in number and prefer to rely on slave labour, and the Skaven are fractured by constant infighting and rarely ever unite long enough to threaten anybody else. The Empire meanwhile are building new stuff every day.