The word “modern” is from around 1580. I guess before that present was so like the past, there was no real point making the distinction?
etymonline.com/word/modern
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I think a lot about that graph from "Capital in the Twenty-First Century". For a very long time, progress was VERY slow if non-existent.
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People had a concept of "dark ages" and different historical eras. But within those epochs they didn't see much "progress". Also, up to and including the Renaissance, I suspect educated opinion was that the ancient world was the peak of civilization and things had fallen off.
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Around the time of the publishing of
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