Comment by corimaith

More than just human ingenuity than human political organization. Building modern technology requires all the amenities a moderns state affords it, from capital financing, to complex supply chains, to modern bureaucracy, to rule of law, to a willing populace that can conform to rigid roles. Stuff like that takes hundreds of years to build, not so much from innovation but the accumulation of trust and conformity, and the necessary defences to prevent outside invasions from nomadic warlords like the Mongols.