I find the assetion within the article that technology did in fact move forward a lot during the middle ages to be slightly suspect. While it is true all those things were invented then, for the vast bulk of the population it was meaningless. The vast majority of the population were peasant farmers, who lived much the same way in 1750 as they did in 500 BC, eking a meagre living from the land.

The only time when the average person could expect to live a substantially different life from their parents was after the industrial revolution.

It occurs to me that this trope is impressively similar to, and definitely related to, the trope Briefer Than They Think. Does anyone think that this justifies a link on both this page and that one?

The article itself seems to display a lack of understanding of the word science. Science is a method for gathering knowledge that should work in pretty much every conceivable world, as long as there is no intelligent entity actively screwing with scientists in one way or another. The article should use "laws of physics" or "laws of reality" instead, and also take into account that almost all worlds should allow for some kind of technological advancement, even if real world technologies are impossible due to different laws of physics.