[rusticpenn]

I am of the opinion that there is something to learn from everyone. However I come to HN for civil discussion. That was not a gotcha or are we trying to win something. Mesopotamians needed complex mathematics for taxes long before even Mycenian Greeks came into picture. You are talking about classical Greeks. Naturally there were advancements in mathematics during the Greek period, but that does not undermine the achievements of Mesopotamians.

[constantcrying]

Your response was a single sentence, pointing out something which I obviously knew. That information was totally irrelevant to what I said, but you thought you had discovered something which I didn't know about. You also obviously didn't understand what I said, else you wouldn't have posted a single statement with no new information. Obviously this was a gotcha. You made no attempt to even try to understand me or post anything interesting or relevant, instead you took a cheap shot at a misreading of my post.

If this is what "high quality discussion" is to you, what does mid level discussion look to you? Just a slur as a response?

>Mesopotamians needed complex mathematics for taxes long before even Mycenian Greeks came into picture. You are talking about classical Greeks. Naturally there were advancements in mathematics during the Greek period, but that does not undermine the achievements of Mesopotamians.

I am stunned by your knowledge. You really know that? That is breathtaking information. Genuinely thank you for posting this novel information that I was totally unaware of. Bringing that to my attention was extremely relevant and has radically changed my position.

Seriously fuck off, you still haven't even bothered to read my OP.

[kragen]

maybe try to have a little more patience with other people; they may not find it as easy to understand you as you think it is, and it doesn't always mean they aren't trying. sometimes they're just dumb, sometimes what you wrote is actually pretty unclear (even though it's perfectly clear to you because you already know what you were trying to express), and sometimes they're actually aware of things you're not which introduce hidden contradictions into your narrative

the worst case, from my point of view, is when they're actually just dumb and you yell at them for their intellectual limitations. that's sad

[rusticpenn]

I am sorry anonymous person on the internet. I have no idea what you know or do not know.

I am perplexed by the notion that time does not play a role for you when talking about the "history" of something.

Just like the fact the Phoenecian alphabet was modified by the Greeks, there would have definitely been transfer of knowledge.

[constantcrying]

You are just impossible to talk to. Why are you still posting random gotchas at me?

[hifromwork]

I have no intention to argue with either of you, but from an outside perspective, it's you who is very hard to discuss with.

I don't understand what's wrong with rusticpenn original post and I don't think they argue in bad faith. Maybe you are right, but because of all the personal attacks you make, it's hard to see your point, and you also come of as very rude. I don't write this to criticize you - I'm just saying that if you change the way you argue, you will probably convince many more people to your ideas. Constructive discussion is, in general, a very useful skill in life.