Humanity was fickle. They were determined. Although their route of progression was not unique, other quirks made them unique. For one, they had a larger imagination than most other space fairing species. This is most noticeable in their literature, arts, and movies. Second, humanity has is much more territorial than other species. Borders aren't unique, most species develop some sort of borders, these are much more vague and ambiguous. For humanity, borders can be traced down to the millimetre, and are highly precise. Thirdly, they are more and less together.
Most species become fully unified around when off-world colonization becomes significantly cheaper, around 70-85%, or a disease forces global unification. Yet, humanity seems to be avoiding both these paths to unification, yes...
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