[stretchwithme]

hmm, 5000 years passed in the west as well and presumably people were also learning in the west.

in the end, it is not how long knowledge has accumulated in a place but how open people are to learning from others.

And how open is often a crap shoot accident of history. The US forced Japan open when Admiral Perry paid Tokyo a visit. Had he only gone to North Korea instead, history would have been completely different.