Stagnant Technology.

Technology is often seen as something which will inevitably progress and the march of progress is inevitable. This is an oversimplification as cultures still existing in hunter gatherer societies show technological progress can slow or functionally stop.

However could progress halt at other stages? Could a civilisation freeze at higher technological level, could a civilisation remain at a medieval tech level for millennia?

This is a trope often seen in fantasy fiction but how possible would it be in our world? Is it impossible with a Luddite ideology making it happen?
 
Perfectly plausible. I would argue the rate of technological change since 1600 (to pick a year at random) is not typical of human societies. However slow change is not no change when you say medieval you have to accept that there were huge technological changes in Europe between say 1000AD and 1400AD, let alone the middle east, india and china all of which advanced significantly.

China is often used as an example of limited technological change but I feel that this is just an artefact of comparing to Europe over the same period and china changed significantly. Is there a Sinophile who could address this better?
 
There are lots of technological change and spread that happen during medieval era, even in China. Song, Yuan, Ming had different material technology. Rice Cultivation in North China, Printing Technology, imported Trebuchet, etc.

But I thinkt Industrial Revolution didn't always have to happen. It very unusual, and only happen once. Neither Spain, nor France, nor China, nor Tokugawa Japan had progress that way. And it had several unlikely perequisite : scarce labor, available coal, numerous capital, boost from Atlantic Interchange, etc. I think its very likely to not happen, stopping at Early Modern level of tech.
 
While I think science can progress even without anything pushing for it, technology IMO can "freeze" when there's no need to improve it.
For example: a self-sufficient state where the majority of the population enjoys a good standard of living, that has no serious threat to its existence and isn't capable to expand a lot outside of its borders wouldn't really see technology changing a lot.
 
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