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by Arainach 13 days ago
> Is it war in general that accelerates material technology, or simply WWII

The reply did not miss the point, it was addressing a question directly posed in the original comment.
2 comments
defrost 13 days ago
As the poser of the obviously rhetorical question in question ...

for many speakers of English as a first language seeped in the conventions of English conversation, storytelling, and literature it was a clear juxtaposition intended to single out the ridiculous proposition that technology advances during wartime are somehow tied to WWII alone.

Have a look at the original sentence again, it's absolutely a clunker, very probably the product of a clanker (or of an ESL human).

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margalabargala 13 days ago
It didn't, though, the question you quoted is a rhetorical question posed to point out the awkwardness of the original piece's phrasing.

By taking the question seriously, you and the person I replied to both have missed the point.

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