Knowing the laws of physics better is a great way to be more powerful.

That is true in Real Life. But, in the world of, say, Dungeons and Dragons, believing that you can run and cast a spell at the same time, or down more than one potion in the span of six seconds, is tantamount to insanity; it just can't be done. The rules of the game are the laws of physics, or at least the most important subset thereof.

Your comment on rules is very interesting. Every time the topic came up, the citizens of those United States of America have been bashing me over the head with the common wisdom that the rules being flexible and accommodating, and therefore not requiring to be changed or rewritten, is a wonderful thing, and that the opposite would be a source of political and legislative instability. And that's when they didn't call the much more frequently-changed constitutions of European countries "toilet paper".

I think the reason US citizens care so much about keeping things the way they are is that they have allowed a great deal of regional diversity within the Federation, and creating a clearer, more modern, more specific set of rules would be a dangerous, complex process that would force outliers into convergence and create tons of resistance and a high chance for disaster. It's no coincidence that constitution changes in Europe and other places have come from fighting (especially losing) wars that involve their own territory, getting invaded by foreign powers, or having a revolution. The US haven't had any of these things since... the war with Mexico?