medium · MCAT cars

Passage: Periodization—the division of history into eras like the 'Middle Ages' or the 'Renaissance'—is a necessary but arbitrary convenience. These labels often reflect the biases of the historians who created them, usually to signal a break from a 'dark' past into a more 'enlightened' present. By imposing such boundaries, historians risk masking the continuities that bridge these periods, creating a false impression of sudden, revolutionary change. Question: An implication of the author's argument is that historical eras:

1. Are objective physical realities that can be measured with precision.
2. Should be avoided entirely in historical writing to maintain accuracy.
3. Always represent a genuine and sudden break from the preceding era.
4. Are interpretive constructs that may obscure slow social transitions.

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