dude
like
dragons are mentioned in almost all cultures all across the world even before they had interaction with each other and you’re telling me they didn’t exist
Well yeah. Lots of cultures found dinosaur bones and said “hey, I wonder what these giant monsters are?” and made up answers.
Also you realize that, say, when the Chinese told stories about these huge magic lizard-god-things that make rain and weave the sky, they didn’t actually name them dragons. Europeans came visiting, heard the Chinese stories, and said, “Oh, that thing you’re talking about! That’s totally a dragon!”
Whereas if you listen to the stories, they only resemble each other in a physical sense. They are otherwise NOTHING ALIKE. (Chinese dragons are beneficient divine beings, for one thing, whereas European dragons are most often depicted as rapacious, murderous monsters. They’re about as similar as dolphins and sharks.)
So in fact, declaring that “every culture has dragons” turns out to be the literary equivalent of white-washing.