These scientists do not think that they have "discovered" anything. They have, undoubtedly, cited prior work as well.

The idea is not to pretend that ancient wisdom is nonexistent, but to verify our shared reality independent of tradition. This takes great humility and patience.

It's sad to see researchers patronized like this.

It's nothing new. In any posts like these, people love being snarky at researchers who are studying something that's 'basic' in their minds. They don't think that even the most foundational and obvious (to them) things need to be proven and put down on paper somewhere, by someone.

It's like sneering at the full proof that 1+1=2, but supercharged by people's beliefs about modern science being fundamentally flawed in some way, and/or their beliefs that the random discoveries of ancient civilizations are just as accurate as (if not more accurate than) modern research.

"HN commenteers encounter joke - It flew completely by them"