WHY RULES ARE IMPORTANT

Imagine a scenario - You are a young strapping 18 year old youngster, lively and bubbling with energy, and you are standing in a queue to buy tickets for a movie. The movie is extremely popular, and all of your friends have watched it. But you haven't watched it yet, and because of a hectic schedule, today's the only day you can think of watching the movie. But there's a problem - tickets are getting sold super fast, the queue is long, and you're almost at the tail of this queue. But hey, heroes find solutions, don't they? The rules say that you need to be in queue, but winners "bend the rules". So you decide to break the queue, manipulate your way ahead, and get hold of your ticket. You save the day.

Let's change your circumstances a wee bit now. Imagine yourself now as a young man who's physically handicapped, or a man who has brought along his 4-year old kid, or a pregnant lady, or a senior citizen. For all practical purposes, you now prefer to follow the rules and get into the queue. Now imagine a youngster who's standing right behind you trying to break the queue and get ahead of you. How would you react to that?

Chances are you're not going to like it a wee bit. In fact, you might even consider giving the young brat a piece of your mind.

Here's the funny thing about rules - as much as you'd want to be able to do whatever you wanted to do and whenever you wanted to do it, without being bound by rules, you wouldn't want the same absence of rules to apply to everyone else. The reason is simple - it's because of the human need for self-preservation and security.

Here are some interesting things about rules:-

Rules ensure a great deal of consistency. Consistency helps in setting expectations for ourselves and for those around us. In civil society, for instance, we know that if we want to be treated with respect and dignity, we will need to behave ourselves and maintain good conduct, We know that we can not invade others' private spaces and properties - we can not barge into someone's house and grab stuff from their refrigerators, no matter how hungry we might be. We could, however, request for help and assistance; that would be acceptable behaviour. This is what differentiates us from other species. Without any sense of consistency in terms of behaviours and responses to behaviours, we'd all be savages.

Rules foster a sense of trust and security. In the absence of rules, everything in the world would be grabbed and controlled by those who were strong, whether physically or economically; the weak would end up with absolutely nothing. Rules ensure protection for the weak. This is why the Human Race has witnessed the emergence and spread of so many great religions and dogmas over the ages. Religions and their laws were introduced to lay down a set of rules and instil a fear of a higher superior power, who would be the supreme authority. As time progressed, religions would eventually come to be replaced by constitutions, rules, and statutes. Without these in place, society would be rife with injustice and exploitation of the weak.

Rules reduce chaos. Imagine not having traffic rules. Imagine not having queues. Or maybe absence of rules pertaining to celebrations in public spaces. The results would be chaotic, and maybe even dangerous, right? Rules help keep chaotic situations and potential dangers at bay.