Happy NY, to clarify: learning as in applying our thinking to understanding Torah and world are as old as the Torah itself (they’ll say this nation is wise ..),
but not specific ways of thinking. Bavli has developed new methods of interpretation hat do not exist in Mishnah & Yerushalmi. R Akiva developed methods that did not exist before (he was like a poor person carefully organizing the little wheat he had – see None2’s frugal thread!)
