Yes. It's even disputed whether Hilbert discovered it first. But regardless of einstein or hilbert, technological advancements would have necessitated the disco

Yes. It's even disputed whether Hilbert discovered it first. But regardless of einstein or hilbert, technological advancements would have necessitated the discovery of general relativity. Just like the advances of telescopes/observation lead to kepler's planetary laws or the advances of computing technology led to the theory of computation. Science can lead to new technologies, but new technologies lead to new science as well. https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/whathassciencedone_03 https://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/whathassciencedone_03 The general direction of science and technology in the first half of the 20th century indicates that general relativity, theory of computation, etc would have been discovered.