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Why are there so many technologically similar civilizations in the Star Trek universe?


It's uncanny how many alien races encountered in Star Trek are at a comparable level of technological development: humans, Vulcans, Romulans, Klingons, + numerous other species. The likelihood of all these races independently evolving warp drive within a few thousand years of each other seems improbable.


Are there canonical explanations for this? A few possible answers (which may be supported by canon, I don't know):




  • Advanced species share or involuntarily leak their technology with low-tech species.

  • Advanced species "uplift" less evolved species as the Dominion did.

  • Low-tech species are annihilated or absorbed into the empires/federations of expanding high-tech warp capable species. This continues until two or more advanced civilizations at the same military tech level eventually bump into each other.

  • Most civilizations tend to stagnate once they hit a tech level say a few hundred or thousand years beyond our own.

  • Many intelligent species either go extinct (eg, the Tkon and Iconian Empires) or evolve to a higher state of being (eg, the Zalkonians) soon after developing warp technology and leave our plane of existence or become aloof to mundane matters. This would conveniently clear out all civilizations that had evolved billions of years in the past up through several thousand years ago, and also explain the many god-like entities throughout the Galaxy.


Any other thoughts?



Answer



As sort-of revealed in Voyager, this is largely a quirk of the parts of the Alpha/Beta quadrants that we're used to seeing.



Technology in Voyager, over in the Delta quadrant, varied drastically from species to species:



  • Kes's people barely had any understanding of the outside world

  • The Kazon stole everything, including their ships

  • The Vidiians were extremely advanced in the biological sciences, not quite as much in others

  • Some species had artificial lifeforms as an everyday thing (VOY 4x05, Revulsion), while others had never heard of it before (and subsequently pushed Federation technology further than the Federation ever intentionally did!)

  • None of the species encountered (that I recall) had replicators, although some did have transporters as Voyager got closer to home (like the Hirogen)


The Gamma Quadrant, explored in Deep Space Nine, had similar gaps that were explored a bit before the conflict with the Dominion began:




  • The hunters after Tosk had some sort of phaser-absorbing glove (DS9 1x06, Captive Pursuit)

  • The Wadi have a bizarre offshoot of transporter/holodeck technology never seen before or since (DS9 1x10, Move Along Home)

  • The Skrreeans were largely agricultural (DS9 2x10, Sanctuary), if I recall correctly


There is one thing unique to the Alpha and Beta quadrants that the others do not share, that would definitely account for at least some of the technological similarity: The Ferengi, who will sell to anyone for the right price. (paraphrased from Odo, I believe, in an episode of Deep Space Nine)



Additionally, there have been at least two seedings of humanoid life that might help explain why the gap is more on the order of thousands of years, rather than millions:



(And I believe there was one other mentioned/hinted at, but I cannot recall at the moment)


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