Everywhere we go there are rules. At least, it seems that way. Sometimes they are useful. There could be no such thing as a game without them. Mathematical rules are useful. Laws are formalised rules, they can be both useful and not. My point is that in every aspect of life you find rules.
Do I believe “rules are made to be broken?” No. Not entirely. Do I believe there are some that are made to be broken? Yes.
Good rules
Good rules are rules that make things easier, more enjoyable and sometimes freer. By not having to worry about some details of whatever it is you’re doing, because you are bounded by rules, it frees cognitive capacity for within the realm of the rules. For example a game, let’s say soccer, is only fun because of the rules. Without rules there would be no creativity. Creativity is that thing that happens inside rules. Messi is considered a creative player because he finds new ways to move the ball with only his feet. If there were no rules, none at all, I can’t imagine it would be easy to be creative. There are too many possibilities and it’s also really easy. You can do anything with no thought. My point is that without a set of rules within which one can play there can be no play.
Rules are generally considered restrictive, however, often they are the opposite. Enforcing seat-belt wearing saves lives and has no downside. Saving a life is the equivalent of bringing more net freedom. It also frees cognitive resources because there is much less friction towards the “yes, I will put no the seatbelt” option than the contrary when deciding whether you should put it on. Reducing the friction with rules is necessary initially, then habit takes over. If they removed the seat-belt law tomorrow, I’d still clip it in without a thought (hopefully I’d be rational enough to do it even if it had not been conditioned).
Bad rules
They deny you control or just make things less fun. Obviously there are many examples of bad laws that are therefore also examples of bad rules, such as laws prohibiting recreational drug use. But there is no need to go there. The more interesting bad rules are the ones that aren’t written in a book. The rules that exist only in the status quo. The crowd-sourced rules. Rules that see you excluded from the crowd if you’re not willing to follow.
If a rule is not formalised (written down) it does not make it a bad rule necessarily. An example would be the cultural rules of a company. Learning these rules and following them makes you easier to cooperate with. Many of these rules are difficult to formalise because they are so fluid. Hence they remain unwritten tribal knowledge.
There is a redeeming quality about bad rules though. Should you choose to break them, you’ll not be excluded from the crowd by being thrown out, you will elevate above the crowd. The bad rules are only bad because they seem to exist for no reason. They do exist for a reason. This reason is this: to be broken.
When to break rules
It’s one thing to say “some rules are meant to be broken” it’s another to say when. The first step is to discover whether the rule is good or bad. If you feel trapped by the status quo and cannot identify a formal rule, it’s likely you are a victim of bad rules. The first step would be to really nail down the one rule you are being held back by. Now you have something to swing the hammer at. This is a good time to warn you that swinging a hammer is dangerous. You can miss the rule, and hit someone following the rule. The thing about this hammer is, it is entirely metaphorical. Thus, hitting someone with your rule breaking hammer and hurting them is barely your fault. They were hit with nothing but a courageous attempt to break free from arbitrariness. It is scary to swing the hammer. It takes courage. The courage is not required because it is difficult to break the rule itself. Breaking a rule is actually pretty easy. Think of monopoly. If you want to break a rule, you can simply lean over and grab an extra $1000. Why don’t you? The status quo will fight you.
When the animal of the crowd fights you, you must remind yourself there are others who have stood where you are standing. A tribe of more enlightened, more individuated individuals is willing to accept you. It’s important to note my switch of terminology from “crowd” to “tribe”. A tribe consists of like-minded people. A crowd creates like-minded people. Thus, you are less likely to encounter the same sort of arbitrary status quo rule policing in a tribe as you ascend into rule moksha.
The rule of needing to attend university if you are to succeed is one I consider a bad rule, albeit one that I follow. Sometimes it’s not worth breaking bad rules. Sometimes the energy exerted in swinging the hammer is not worth the minor gains in freedom and control. Sometimes it’s not obvious which are worth it or not. Most of the time you don’t have to break a bad rule as soon as you see it. You can wait a while, confirm or disconfirm your suspicions, then take action.
Whatever bad rule you’re facing right now, the one that’s stopping you from reaching the next level or from moving on with your life. The one that says “just stay here a little bit longer, stalling for an arbitrary amount of time until I say so”. Put it down on the anvil and smash it to pieces, and in the process become a Higher Man.
