<story><title>Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]</title><url>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJgD6gyi0Wk</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>DavidHm</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s a pretty typical mistake.&lt;p&gt;We are just as smart as our predecessors. We just have a much higher population, a higher % of them are well educated, and we have an enormous body of historical knowledge (as well as easy ways for anyone to access it).&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;On the shoulder of giants&amp;quot; etc.</text></item><item><author>DoofusOfDeath</author><text>I used to be tempted to think that our modern generations are extra smart because of the cool gadgets we have.&lt;p&gt;Seeing stuff like this, and reading ancient political &amp;#x2F; philosophical writings, gives me a much-needed reality check.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>henrik_w</author><text>The &amp;quot;On the shoulder of giants&amp;quot;-quote made me think of this:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;It has been said that the great scientific disciplines are examples of giants standing on the shoulders of other giants. It has also been said that the software industry is an example of midgets standing on the toes of other midgets.&amp;quot; -Alan Cooper</text></comment>
<story><title>Animation of how bridges were built in Central Europe in the Middle Ages [video]</title><url>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJgD6gyi0Wk</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>DavidHm</author><text>It&amp;#x27;s a pretty typical mistake.&lt;p&gt;We are just as smart as our predecessors. We just have a much higher population, a higher % of them are well educated, and we have an enormous body of historical knowledge (as well as easy ways for anyone to access it).&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;On the shoulder of giants&amp;quot; etc.</text></item><item><author>DoofusOfDeath</author><text>I used to be tempted to think that our modern generations are extra smart because of the cool gadgets we have.&lt;p&gt;Seeing stuff like this, and reading ancient political &amp;#x2F; philosophical writings, gives me a much-needed reality check.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>emiliobumachar</author><text>You&amp;#x27;re generally right, but missing an important detail: nutrition.&lt;p&gt;We are not smarter than the subset of our predecessors who had the privilege of developing without ever starving.</text></comment>