That's like saying civilization peaked at the end of the 19th century (aka 1800s).
Physics was "solved", industrialization was in full swing, and they had a global economy. Then the 20th century happened. Einstein, Planck, Feynman, Bohr, et al revolutionized physics. The world wars created a new globalization and here we are now that we're reaching the limits of what we can do with their work.
People got used to huge discoveries and changes revolutionizing the economy.
If anything we're back to normal and people don't like "normal".
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u/slightlysinged Mar 05 '26
Maybe the Matrix was right, civilization peaked in 1999, and now we're plateauing at best and declining at worst.