[OOC]
Three reasons why Imperial tech is stagnant:
1) The science involved is far beyond the comprehension of flesh-and-blood humans. It's just too complex, too intricate, too advanced. The human mind cannot handle the mathematics involved. High-level Magi of the Mechanicum who've replaced big chunks of their brains with cogitators might have a chance of grasping some of the basics, but even that's a strain. STC tech was designed by superhuman machine intelligences, and can only really be comprehended by superhuman machine intelligences.
However, superhuman machine intelligences are totally outlawed by the Cult Mechanicus, as the last time they were around they tried to wipe out humankind. So if if the Cult wants to expand the realm of human understanding they have to hunt down old STC systems in the hopes that they contain fragments of knowledge from the Dark Age of Technology.
2) As mentioned by others, innovation is actively dangerous. Complex machines can potentially be possessed by entities of the Warp - micro-etched circuitry can accidentally contain patterns close enough to runes to serve as a hosts for daemons, which is Really Bad. So experimenting, inventing and modifying beyond the bounds of sanctioned templates is forbidden as a matter of safety.
3) The Mechanicum is immensely powerful as a direct result of their monopoly on technology. Outsiders innovating, inventing and developing independent of the Cult threatens that monopoly, and so massive sanctions are taken against them. Mechanicum dogma teaches that technology that does not adhere to the STC patterns is an abomination, to be eradicated wherever it is found. In some cases, thanks to point 2, they're right. In other cases they're just protecting their own turf.
1) The science involved is far beyond the comprehension of flesh-and-blood humans. It's just too complex, too intricate, too advanced. The human mind cannot handle the mathematics involved. High-level Magi of the Mechanicum who've replaced big chunks of their brains with cogitators might have a chance of grasping some of the basics, but even that's a strain. STC tech was designed by superhuman machine intelligences, and can only really be comprehended by superhuman machine intelligences.
However, superhuman machine intelligences are totally outlawed by the Cult Mechanicus, as the last time they were around they tried to wipe out humankind. So if if the Cult wants to expand the realm of human understanding they have to hunt down old STC systems in the hopes that they contain fragments of knowledge from the Dark Age of Technology.
2) As mentioned by others, innovation is actively dangerous. Complex machines can potentially be possessed by entities of the Warp - micro-etched circuitry can accidentally contain patterns close enough to runes to serve as a hosts for daemons, which is Really Bad. So experimenting, inventing and modifying beyond the bounds of sanctioned templates is forbidden as a matter of safety.
3) The Mechanicum is immensely powerful as a direct result of their monopoly on technology. Outsiders innovating, inventing and developing independent of the Cult threatens that monopoly, and so massive sanctions are taken against them. Mechanicum dogma teaches that technology that does not adhere to the STC patterns is an abomination, to be eradicated wherever it is found. In some cases, thanks to point 2, they're right. In other cases they're just protecting their own turf.