Comment by krapp

My personal headcanon is that humanity's "evolution" was the result of cultural indoctrination and propaganda on the part of the Vulcans' attempt to "civilize" post-apocalyptic, warp capable humans. It didn't really happen, but believing it did was a useful mass coping mechanism for humanity to deal with the trauma of WW3 and the cultural shock of first contact.

This would explain why throughout the franchise, people believe Earth is a paradise and they claim humans have evolved beyond their base desires but it obviously isn't true.