Abstract
Beset on all sides and within, even with a million worlds, humanity fights a long-drawn battle of attrition. If the Imperium of Man wants to stand a chance, technology is its only hope. And even if it lacks behind, compared to the Necron or Eldar, human ingenuity once rules the stars. Technology is so important that there is a whole religion around it – the Cult Mechanicus. However, the same technology that allowed humanity to conquer the galaxy was its downfall as well. Revered and hated, needed and rejected, technology in the Imperium of Man is a controversial issue.
The proposed presentation will talk about how the current state of the Imperium arose, and how the dark age of technology lead to humanities fear of technology and stagnant development. It will also address how at the same time a lot of the lives of humans relies on (ancient) technology and how different factions (the Imperium proper, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Leagues of Votann) approach technology as a concept. Lastly, the presentation will show the real-world influences and reasons behind the technological gridlock of the Imperium. It will also imagine what possible predictions and lessons that can be drawn for the real life from the stories in the 40th millennium, using current examples out of the world of technology.
Author bio
Moritz Schmid studied biology and science communication and is currently doing his doctorate at the Deutsches Museum and the Oskar-von-Miller Chair of Scientific Communication of the Technical University of Munich. In his free time, he writes and has (co)-authored several Pen&Paper-RPG-publications for various systems.
