They just didn't USE the wheel yet, because wheels aren;t the greatest way to travel in sand and mud.
Take your sedan out into some sand dunes or go mudding in it. Or just try filling up a wheelbarrow with bricks and then try pushing it through wet mud or a kids sandbox.
It's why we today don;t use wheeled vehicles in tractionaless terrain - we use tracked vehicles or sleds. The coefficient of friction is too small for wheels in those types of environments.
The point is that their level of tech at the time proves that they didn't have the engineering capability or knowledge to build the greatest engineering feat ever created.
I don;t think "tech" and "engineering" are as closely related as you say, in order to use the term "proves."
One can be highly functional in math and engineering without having to have the technological advances. Technology, imo, builds on other technologies and knowledges, and flows from one discovery/advancement to another. For example, the incandescent lightbulb didn't just pop into existence. First we had to understand how to produce a steady flow of electricity. To do that, we had to understand capacitors and resistors. To do that we had to understand which materials had the correct amount of resistance and flow. To do that we had to be able to measure the electric flow. To do that... the list could go on for miles.
When it comes to simply mental functions, there is nothing the ancients didn't have that we have, excepting computers for advanced modeling and sheer processing power. They had roughly the same physiology as us, the same brain capacity and ability to use it. They were just missing eons of experimentation and knowledge to advance the technology. They were fantastically adept at measuring angles and putting into practice the mathematical arts. The only technology they needed was the concept of the lever. Once you have that, you have the counterbalance, and voila!, you have the pyramids. (Well, that and a LOT of labor!!)
I think many times we forget that not having technology doesn't mean stupid and ignorant.
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cyclops1771 ago
They just didn't USE the wheel yet, because wheels aren;t the greatest way to travel in sand and mud.
Take your sedan out into some sand dunes or go mudding in it. Or just try filling up a wheelbarrow with bricks and then try pushing it through wet mud or a kids sandbox.
It's why we today don;t use wheeled vehicles in tractionaless terrain - we use tracked vehicles or sleds. The coefficient of friction is too small for wheels in those types of environments.
threesevens ago
The point is that their level of tech at the time proves that they didn't have the engineering capability or knowledge to build the greatest engineering feat ever created.
cyclops1771 ago
I don;t think "tech" and "engineering" are as closely related as you say, in order to use the term "proves."
One can be highly functional in math and engineering without having to have the technological advances. Technology, imo, builds on other technologies and knowledges, and flows from one discovery/advancement to another. For example, the incandescent lightbulb didn't just pop into existence. First we had to understand how to produce a steady flow of electricity. To do that, we had to understand capacitors and resistors. To do that we had to understand which materials had the correct amount of resistance and flow. To do that we had to be able to measure the electric flow. To do that... the list could go on for miles.
When it comes to simply mental functions, there is nothing the ancients didn't have that we have, excepting computers for advanced modeling and sheer processing power. They had roughly the same physiology as us, the same brain capacity and ability to use it. They were just missing eons of experimentation and knowledge to advance the technology. They were fantastically adept at measuring angles and putting into practice the mathematical arts. The only technology they needed was the concept of the lever. Once you have that, you have the counterbalance, and voila!, you have the pyramids. (Well, that and a LOT of labor!!)
I think many times we forget that not having technology doesn't mean stupid and ignorant.