“Far be it from the Afghans to discover this for themselves.”
1. they are too busy growing poppies.
2. Its hard to discover this with 7th century technology. Not much demand for lithium back then.
I was thinking of your (2) when I wrote my post. Just 1500 more years, and they’ll be getting civilized. Maybe 1000. Maybe even 500. But probably not 50, or 100.
There, that help it any?
<opening scene in mountain meadow>"Salih, Salih! It is I, Mahmud, your neighbor!"
"Yes, yes, I see you there, neighbor -- come near! How have you been?"
"I bring you great news! I was in your upper pasturage yesterday, and I discovered -- AAAAAGHHHH!!" <dies>
"Brother, what was it he said to you? What did he discover?"
"He discovered the price of trespassing in my upper meadows! Behold, my enemy, the son of a dog named Mahmud, is dead!! Allahu akhbar!!"
"Allahu akhbar! Allahu akhbar! Mahmud the Enemy, Mahmud the son of a dog, is dead!"
<exeunt stage left>
And so ends a peaceful day in seventh-century Afghanistan.