Darth Tanner wrote:
Is it really unnecessary? I thought that failure to comply with it resulted in your tank being possessed by demons and eating you.
Some machines can be. This seems to be reserved more for the "thinking machine" types - the artitficial intelligencees (or "machine spirits".) Otherwise the tech isn't so much "possessed" as infused (which can be just as dangerous, since it carries a taint that can infect others in nasty ways.)
The fact that alot of 40K tech deals heavily with the warp (warp engines, mind impulse links. plasma reactors, etc.) would also make harsh controls important - the warp IS dangerous and risky, and just like psykers teh technology can be a potential means of Chaos-fuckery. Deliberately limiting the odds of someone fiddling around with something they may not understand limits the ability of the average person to fuck things up royally.
There could be more to it though, of course. The religious trappings, amusing as they can be as a joke, may actually have some benefit in 40K. Reemmber that, deep down, 40K is basically "Fantasy with science added" to but it very crudely. To the Imperium, "magic" and the supernatural exist, and while it is frowned upon, it can also be utilized in varying degrees. Virtually all 40K humans have at least some connection to the warp, and this would also suggest they have at least some limited ability to maniuplate it, even if unconsciously. (think. of it as "luck") One effective way to channel this is via ritual and religion.
With this "ability" a person's wepaon might just be ab it more deadly (maybe the weapon is made to operate more efficiently psychically or something, or its aim is accruate enough to hit a vital spot.) as well as enhancing physical abilities (IE strength or endurance) or mental ones (bravery, resistancec to corruption, etc.) Its not farfetched in the 40K galaxy to consider that any object might be temporarily imbued or "enchanted" to behave better, since "magical" weapons do exist after a fashion/
In a way, this is probably just an extension of the Cult of the Emperor thing - the Emperor's power I suspect, like the Chaos gods, gets a huge boost from religious belief, which is why he's so powerful (he has more worshippers for the most parrt.) Alot of the Emperor's "blessings" or "miracles", or at least the small stuff, could be seen as manifestations of belief tweaking latent psychic abilities (this would save the Emperor a grerat deal of micromanaging as well.)
As a side note, ritual can be a very good way to instill rote-learning in people without explanation about how it works. For alot of Imperium tech this would suffice (like lasguns or such) - the fact the technology is modular helps too. In a way its kinda like the instruction manuals for alot of modern electronics. It tells you how to operate or even maintain something, but it doesn't tell you how it works (you dont need to know the fundamental principles of a computer to operate one or even install components.)
(Note that I am nto saying every lasgun in the hands of a Guardsman or the bolter in the hands of an Astartes/Sororitas is going to be a magical weapon - rather what I am saying is that they might be enhanced. We know psykers can interfere with technology to make it malfunction or go haywire, so the opposite - making it function better - should also be possible.)