> It has long been alluded to in Sci-Fi that humanity's rate of development is fast (Humans vs Vulcans, Halo universe, etc). I think that's just borrowed from

> It has long been alluded to in Sci-Fi that humanity's rate of development is fast (Humans vs Vulcans, Halo universe, etc). I think that's just borrowed from modern fantasy tropes. How can humans co-exist on anything even kinda like equal footing with centuries-old magical elves, ancient dwarves who know the secrets of the deep, bloodthirsty and strong orcs and goblins, et c? Oh, humans are more flexible (culturally more diverse; more varied from person to person; develop & experiment faster; are more curious; freer from genetic determinism in their choices and behavior), breed faster, or cooperate better. Usually one or more of those is the answer given, with the specific question being "how can we have interesting and powerful fantasy species/races and still have humans matter in our stories, without every story just being an upstairs/downstairs thing or otherwise having the humans in some plainly-inferior position?" There are other ways around the problem, but that's the easy way out.