>>5420905I am of the belief that most of those things are feasible by other means even without knowledge, either through technology or Mechanicum ritual.
>Detecting chaotic rituals>Perhaps a way to detect the chaotic touchAmplified Psi-Sensors, rather than skilled or educated Psykers
>The best weapons to expel a demon from the material planeIn the purview of knowledge of chaos would be other psychically charged or symbolic weapons. Which we can substitute with more nulls or psy-out weaponry. Necrons are able to banish greater demons without any understanding of lore or arcane.
>Or finding out if two individuals are communicating using the Realm of SoulsThis one is valid. It takes a psyker to detect psychic communication. But we could also just shut down the likelihood of psychic communication around us and on our planets via null fields.
I consider it a difference of mentality. To combat the supernatural, one could try to go through supernatural means. Spells, arcana, lore, fellow psykers, etc. But it doesn't really fit us all to well I feel.
I believe we could try more scientific and passive means of rebuffing them.
Where the benefit of knowing of the four comes in more direct countering them:
-Encouraging the "Four Virtues" to repel the influences of the four (Discipline over Excess. Honour over Savagery. Steely Purpose over Fatalism. Loyalty over Ambition)
-More specific defenses like enhanced biosuits and rust resistant steels to combat Nurgle, or Emotional Dampeners to combat Slaanesh, etc.
But I don't believe we specifically have to know their exact natures to do this sort of thing either and honestly given how crazy the powers of the mitu and other psychic aliens we encounter can be I'd be unsurprised if we can't naturally pursue these sorts of things.
