system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[General Fantasy] Why don't elves develop advanced technologies considering they have long life?
gpt
In *The Lord of the Rings*, at least, the elves do developed advanced arts that hobbits and men mistake for magic. Their light-bearing swords, nigh-invisible cloaks, and even their Rings of Power are created by craft, as all technology is. The reason their technology doesn't look like 20th century tech is because elves see power as a means to preserve life and increase their harmony with nature. They wouldn't want to rely on technologies that would destroy the world around them, so they wouldn't use fossil fuels or make indiscriminately destructive weapons like bombs. It's also worth noting that the elves have been declining for a long time before Frodo meets them, so they've lost the knowledge of how to build Feanor's telepathic televisions (the Palantir) and other advanced technology known in Valinor.