The Dark Ages never lacked for philosophical or scientific advances. What really defines the Dark Ages is a splintered Europe lacking a relatively cohesive iden

The Dark Ages never lacked for philosophical or scientific advances. What really defines the Dark Ages is a splintered Europe lacking a relatively cohesive identity and political structure by which ideas and goods could more freely travel. The speed of exchange is what accelerated advancement.[1] The real question is whether and to what extent do shared identity and political structures matter in the Information Age. We're about to find out, not just in Brexit but as conservatives everywhere systematically dismantle the post-WWII order. [1] If it accelerated at all. Again, the Dark Ages seem muddy because there's no singular historical narrative that can be articulated. Because we don't articulate a narrative, we tend to assume the period lacked an historical arc, and in particular lacked an arc of progression.