[TeMPOraL]

> But yeah, old societies were completely clueless and a bunch of idiots and surely we have learnt nothing from them.

Yes, they were, in comparison. They had neither predictive theoretical models, nor the tools to confirm and refine them - hell, for most history, they didn't even understand they need those things in the first place. Please appreciate that the period starting in late 19th century brought all the pieces together - the theoretical foundations, the observations, communications, precision manufacturing, the philosophy of science - they all added up to exponential growth across all scientific disciplines, and all occupations.

That's not to say we didn't learn anything from them. They did accumulate knowledge. But the sum of all knowledge humanity accumulated since beginning of recorded history is just a rounding error compared to what humanity accumulated in the last 100 years. That's the exponential growth at work.