Did anyone ever keep track of which episodes in which T'Pol or other Vulcans raised doubts about Earth's readiness to explore deep space / tackle new challenges / implement new ships (such as the NX program)? Can anyone list which episodes these doubts were raised in, and what specifically was said?
That's pretty much every episode in which Vulcans appeared, I think! "Fallen Hero" cuts to the heart of it, with T'Pol and a disgraced Vulcan Ambassador (her name escapes me, but I'm familar with actress playing her) at one point discussing Earth. How they've withheld many things from us. How when first contact occurred, Earth had only just recovered from a global war. Archer tries to convince her by pointing out a century of good behaviour. "Dear Doctor" doesn't feature the race, but the dilemma down on the planet - whether or not to intervene (no Prime Directive existing) - in a conversation with T'Pol is uncomfortably compared to Vulcans having stayed to assist humanity post WWIII. "First Flight" just has Vulcans in the background really, with Starfleet's warp engine design being described as "unsound". You're basically looking at "The Andorian Incident" and "Shadows of P'Jem" for Vulcans at their most damning of Enterprise's missions. That continues into "Shockwave, Part II" with the pressure really being on to cancel Earth's deep space program. By "The Forge" you have Soval frankly admitting to Admiral Forrest, that some in the Vulcan High Command don't like the contradictory nature of humans - stubborn like Tellarites, as volatile as Klingons and occasionally embracing of logic. How far we've come in a short time, wiping out famine and war on Earth within a 100 years, and what we might go onto achieve in the next 100 years. Some Vulcans don't like the answer being predicted, based on our track record.
Vulcans never get over their belief that humans are a bunch of noobs. And why should they? They have higher intelligence, greater strength, live a lot longer and prize logic which humans don't prize above lots of other silly things.