[hhas01]

Did you read the article? If you had, you might have noticed the phrase “Hindu-Arabic numerals“ being used. Shockingly, cultures do tend to build on the works of others.

The reason it is tagged “Islamic” is presumably because the golden age of Persian/Arabic science happened in unison with the early rise of Islam, along with a blooming of industry and culture in general. This may not have been coincidental. The early Islamic world was a lot more inquisitive and open-minded than the western world of the time. It wasn’t till a couple centuries later that reactionary religious conservatism gained the upper hand; and several centuries more before Europe would best its own reactionary religious conservatism in shape of the Renaissance.

Physicist Jim al-Khalili has written on the subject:

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinders-Golden-Age-Arabic-Science...

(Also some documentaries if you want to search on Youtube.)

[dang]

Please don't break the site guidelines as you did in your first paragraph. They ask commenters not to be snarky and to omit the "Did you read the article" trope.

The rest of your comment is wonderful. Unfortunately, introducing it in a hostile way creates a barrier that's more than just a speed bump. Mentioning in a friendly way the article refers to Hindu-Arabic numerals would make a much better intro.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[hhas01]

So I should’ve phrased it as “You clearly didn’t read the article” then? Considering OP was transparently skating on the edge of Islamophobia, I think I was being kind.

[dang]

No, that phrasing would break the guidelines even worse.

You weren't being kind. Kindness isn't relative to how bad another comment is or you feel it is. It's a quality of what you yourself respond with.

The rest of your comment was great, but if you begin by tweaking people, it's not reasonable to expect them to learn from the rest of what you write. They're just going to smart from the slap, and respond as badly or (probably) worse.

Would you mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of this site more to heart? We'd appreciate it. The idea is curious conversation, rather than the sniping and fault-finding (and worse) that dominates most of the internet.