We're Here

The concentration age.

That is where were are. Materials and minds. Pooled, collected and refined into an ultra-pure state at the tip of the spear.

Metals and fuels and research and fields... pure and specialized.

Concentration requires lots and lots of time, energy and raw materials.

In another age encompassing this age is the biological age. A place requiring less concentration and energy, and fewer materials and time.

So if mechanical materials were great why are they not everywhere already. Replication and exponential growth would mean they should be, if they were at all anywhere in the last recent millions of millions of years or so. Some cheezy plot line from Stargate or something did this already. Though for reals, if it was that easy it would be reality. Here and now.

Instead, it is biologic. The least cost. The least materials. Concentrated, but still dilute. Specialized when needed, then removed.

Watch the energy flows and materials input into a mechanical system vs a biologic.

Very advanced tech is almost magic. Almost. Which is where and why and how the magi speak in organic molecular recombination. For reals, a wave of biologic exponential expansion seeded, grew and expanded in the void. Then later, spawned machines in a high-cost parody.

On this planet at least.

You do the math on the others.