What took so long for technology to become advanced?

Humans have been around for thousands of years, yet only recently, very recently—in the grand scheme of things—did we advance our technology. I’m just curious, what took so long? Did humans from a couple hundred years ago not care about moving forward? Did the Egyptians not even think something like this was possible? Did anyone even have thoughts about technology and electricity before they were actually harnessed?

Just something I’ve always pondered.