We're way older than 2000 years, dude. Ever heard of the stone age and such?
As for the speed of advance: it's not linear but exponential. It's got a lot to do with being open-minded and inquisitive, which really got a boost during the renaissance. After that, we were discovering new things all the time. Then, with the invention of cars, planes, mass communication, it all went a lot faster: instead of one man discovering new things, all of a sudden *everyone* was discovering things, and telling each other about it.
Computers accelerated that even more, as did the internet. I think you'll see an ever increasing rate of invention, until we finally reach the limit of the human capacity to change. Then we'll have to slow down a bit, to let people get used to new things. One need only look back ten years to see how much has changed - imagine that much change in *one* year, or even a month...
It's simply not true that before the industrial revolution, there were no problems with the environment. There are countless reports of mass deforestation, for example. Most of Northern/Western Europe used to be covered in forests, and most of that is gone now. Also, I think that whole idea about the planet being destroyed isn't going to matter in the future: we'll find new, clean ways of getting energy, for example. And when the shit really hits the van, we can always build some spacecraft and spread out...
...unless the fundamentalists win, of course.
