Historians of the medieval era hate the term "dark ages", even in relation to Europe. The whole notion that the Roman Empire went poof one day and then everything sucked for 1000 years is just cartoonishly wrong.
I once heard in some history tv show that it's called "dark ages" not because of the bad living conditions, but because we know so few things about it, compared to other history periods.
That is a myth that has been debunked a long time ago. In fact, the Earth being round was discovered in antiquity and Eratosthenes measured the Earth's circumference almost accurately in about 240 BC.
What the hell are you talking about? I'm talking about enlightenment, you know, the explosion of philosophy in the 17th century?such as the explosion of liberalism, ideas of socialism, The theories of government, American and french revolution, ect.