By "breaking" the laws of nature is meant shaping nature to our own ends as no animal does[edit]
"When 'Abdu'l-Bahá says man breaks the laws of nature, He means we shape nature to meet our own ends, as no animal does. Animals adapt themselves to better fit in with and benefit from their environment. But men both surmount and change environment. Likewise when he says nature is devoid of memory he means memory as we have it, not the strange memory of inherited habits which animals so strikingly possess.
"These various statements must be taken in conjunction with all the Bahá'í teachings; we cannot get a correct picture by concentrating on just one phrase."
