system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[General Science Fiction] Why are humans portrayed as developing faster technologically compared to aliens?

In many works of science fiction, I have come across the common supposition that one of humanity's distinctive features when compared to aliens is that we develop faster technologically.  Why is this is the case?  Are there scientific reasons to think this might be true or is this a trope of convenience for writers who want humanity to 'catch-up' to aliens in their stories while not having the aliens stay permanently ahead of humanity in the tech race?
gpt
If aliens developed as fast as humans, then we'd need extremely precise timing to meet them while they're still relatable. The time between cavemen and transhumans is tiny compared to astronomical timescales. If we're just unusually fast at it, there could be a bunch of aliens out there that are still between those stages that we could meet.

Also, it's generally possible to steal technology faster than you can invent it yourself, although not to the extent that it's often portrayed. It's not like someone from a hundred years ago could reverse-engineer a modern computer. There still would be a lot of cool stuff they could reverse-engineer though.