I've been having trouble with Disqus posting replies to Tim's Blogger blog, and it's getting frustrating. I think the problem is probably that Disqus is unhappy with my iCloud proxy e-mail. I'm not worried about anyone finding out my real-life identity—as a German professor my freedom to hold whatever opinions I want online is unassailable, and if it comes to it I'll bet on the
Polizei over any Danites—but I feel as though the online persona of Physics Guy is just the more relevant identity for this. All of my Physics Guy posts are sensibly relevant context for this discussion; very little of my online footprint in my real-life name is. So I wanted to post on Tim's blog as Physics Guy, but Disqus is making this difficult.
So, @Tim:
The era around the birth of Mormonism was another Axial Age.
I'm glad you're glad I took this point—it's a really good point that I think can bear a lot of weight. It's your own point—I may have been quick to take it but I don't think I've seen anyone else make it so clearly, I didn't articulate it until I read your blog post, and if the "Axial Age" term helps express the idea then you're welcome to it, it's still your insight, not mine.
You don't have to be the very first person to have expressed this point (if in fact you're not). I don't think it's obvious enough to be a majority view already, though it's pretty compelling once stated, so it's a contribution to express it originally.
I was a teenager before it was cool.