[hnfong]

Facts have real-world significance if it becomes part of a cultural propaganda. If one were less friendly they would say you have been "brainwashed" to believe that the European cultures (and their descendants) are entitled to more credit than they deserve in advancing the technology of humanity. Maybe, just maybe, people would be more humble if they knew that we have all learned from each other, and not, as the narrative goes, invented everything merely from a stroke of genius.

Of course, it doesn't really matter for a learned person who has the natural curiosity to figure things out (presumably that includes you), since these people aren't often affected by dogma or rigid conceptions anyway, but the other 99% have no clue, and it's probably easier to state facts than to teach people curiosity.

[Fern_Blossom]

I totally agree with you and probably that's my problem with the whole tidbit info thing. Does it actually matter if it was a German, Chinese or whoever that invented the first printing press? I mean, yes, it's nice to give credit where credit is due. Nothing wrong with that. That doesn't mean, "We [insert country] invented the [insert invention], we are all your rulers!" I feel like people take a little good (or bad) and run too far with it. Which probably leads to your propaganda point. Just because you share a nationality with someone that was useful, doesn't immediately make you useful. This also goes for wars. There's just this weird want to associate certain facts with bigger concepts and ideals for no good reason. A lot of the things people praise or denounce are far more isolated compared to what they try to apply it to.

Maybe you're more right about the thing with being curious and what it leads it. At a certain point, I at least, learned how both connected and disconnected many things are from each other. Especially from ideologies. Man, I think that pisses me off the most. I can't stand how any ideology tries to wrap themselves around anything by using the loosest relation they can think of.