I've often wondered why Romans, who had such easy access to food, had a thriving industry and built technological marvels, and the natives in the Pacific Northwest were still so technologically behind Europeans when they had similarly easy sustenance. It's always seemed to me that technological advances were something that happened naturally, rather than an interest you had to take. Is there another factor I'm not considering for why they didn't progress more, or was it really just that they didn't feel the need to invent?