I think you're massively underestimating the amount of change.
Before technology most people lived on farms. Hardly anyone travelled more than a few tens of miles at most. Infant mortality was huge. Adult mortality was almost as huge. Living to fifty made you exceptional.
The average person had no education to speak of - no math, no ability to read or write, no knowledge of science, art, or culture.
The single biggest change is the fact that not only can most people read and write, but they have a vastly increased awareness of the world around them.
Now - imagine if that awareness was increased again to the interplanetary or galactic level. Imagine if live expectancy increased by a factor of two, or five, or ten. Imagine having access to a galaxy-sized Internet, with its own version of Wikipedia (and whatever the alien equivalent of Hacker News is).
Before technology most people lived on farms. Hardly anyone travelled more than a few tens of miles at most. Infant mortality was huge. Adult mortality was almost as huge. Living to fifty made you exceptional.
The average person had no education to speak of - no math, no ability to read or write, no knowledge of science, art, or culture.
The single biggest change is the fact that not only can most people read and write, but they have a vastly increased awareness of the world around them.
Now - imagine if that awareness was increased again to the interplanetary or galactic level. Imagine if live expectancy increased by a factor of two, or five, or ten. Imagine having access to a galaxy-sized Internet, with its own version of Wikipedia (and whatever the alien equivalent of Hacker News is).
No big changes? I really doubt that.