They had some (a tiny tiny) excuse with the Wraith destroying civilizations regularly, but still. Humans are smarter than that, writers! At least most of them *cough*

For a long time I thought about writing a "what if Chaya had been awesome?" story, where she encouraged her people to study science, and when the Earthers arrive the people from Proculus have build giant spaceships, wiped out the Wraith (maybe even have a tentative alliance with the Asurans?), and half the galaxy worships Athar. Athar, who never leaves her planet and who doesn't allow anyone who ever left it to visit (so Proculus basically became a planet full of priests and priestesses, a last-resort sanctuary while the main population lives elsewhere), suddenly expresses the wish to visit the new arrivals, even though they aren't very technologically advanced or anything. (She just wants to visit Atlantis again, which for some strange reasons her people haven't managed to find.) And somehow Teyla would have got a large role. But I suspect that I wouldn't be interested in writing it anymore if I actually watched the episode with Chaya ^^

Yes, that is sadly entirely possible. It reminds me of the good old days when I read a lot of Asimov's short stories :)