Editing Genius The Transgression/Chapter One: The Cosmos (section)

===The Science Is Science Law (aka the Anticlark Corollary)===

Geniuses can no longer engage in traditional scientific research. Nonetheless, they are not "wizards." They do not do "magic." That is, what they do conforms at least in part to what sane scientists would recognize as the laws of physics, and is not entirely a product of the genius' peculiar internal state. Even geniuses who have a strong interpretation of the Law of Broken Theory recognize that wonders can't just pop into existence, fueled by will and desire. No genius can just wave a magic wand and make wonders happen. Even very old wonders―ones built centuries or millennia ago―function in ways that seem recognizable as technology.

A flying machine built by a Song Dynasty Taoist who believes in the five Taoist elements will still fly, and it will fly *based on modern principles of aerodynamics*, even if it also conforms to other, weirder laws. Even if a wonder circumvents or ignores physical laws, such as using some kind of anti-gravity technology to fly, a wonder never flatly ignores the laws of physics. A genius can't just build a wooden bird, dump Mania into it, and expect it to fly because it's "enchanted." The Inspired are miracle-workers, yes, but they're also technologists. There are principles at work behind what a genius does, even if they apparently lack consistency and repeatability, and even if a genius can't figure them out.