If you know the rules, you can break them.
6 months ago I wrote about why I like rules. That hasn't changed, but there are some things to say, things that I realized in the last months while reading and writing to many posts regarding rules. Unwritten ones, written ones, laws, prejudice, expectations - the realm of rules is a vast one.
One of my favorite Post-Punk Bands from Germany, Love A, puts it in a beautiful song like this:
"Wenn man sie kennt, darf man getrost die Regeln brechen.
Weil die meisten doof sind, fällt's uns gar nicht schwer
Nur wer mal aufgestanden ist, der darf sich setzen
Und darum bleiben hier so viele Stühle leer."
"If you know them, you can confidently break the rules.
Since most are stupid, it's not hard for us to do so
Only who has stood up once is allowed to sit down
And that's why so many chairs remain empty."
Translation by me. Should work out.
The first line is the most important one here, though the whole refrain is food for thought, and sums up my position very well. Rules are there to be followed, yes, but as soon as you have comprehended them - click here for a excursion on the different levels of understanding - you will have the capacity to decide based on the situation you're in.
Every rule has a butt.
Even the 10 commandments and all the other amazing ground rules for social interaction lead to exceptions. You shall not kill, except when you're being attacked and you there is no other way to defend yourself. Now, there are different levels to that, too. Those who have internalized this rule will try to find any feasible way to not kill the other person, while someone who did not comprehend it yet will get to the ultima ratio quicker.
Over time, some rules become obsolete as well. Even laws do so. For advancing tech or changing values for example. Remember the Simpsons-Episode where Homer is to be catapulted out of town due to an antique alcohol prohibition law? That kind of stuff.
And then there is those who are supposed to not follow rules, but to rebel against them. Sum41 puts it like this:
I don't want to waste my time
Become another casualty of society.
Society is the result of rules, common rules that we give ourselves. Since they're seemingly reducing freedom, the process of independence as young-lings mostly targets rules that seem to make no sense. If the parents did their job right and instilled enough values in their kids, the rules that are rebelled against are really just the superficial ones, that do not have an devastating effect when being ignored.
And then we grow up...
And we learn which rules we can ignore (J-Walking when there's no car around, crossing the red light) as we have gathered enough experience to make most rules turn into common sense for us, as guidelines that can be followed or infringed depending on the current circumstances.
It's a dance with the devil, though.
The rebellion against societal norms is important for our society to progress, and it will lead to that, if it has the right fundamentals. Unfortunately, these days most rebellion is quite empty due to lack of education in all parts. Or maybe it seems to me as I have grown out of it?
I still feel like I'm rebelling. Going against many norms and the tides of my times, trying to build community and not falling for individualism. I don't break many laws though - but as a foreigner here, I do break many a social rule. Which is okay, everyone cuts me slack for being a foreigner and hence different.
The last theme for today is for my favorite blogger. It's writing that I enjoy very, very much, as it always makes me laugh or at least chuckle, and I learn around 2 new words with each text. That blogger is the personification of "Quality over Quantity", posting almost never and almost exclusively in the Weekend-Engagement, though commenting here and there when there's something to say. That can be either very insightful and interesting, or just absurdly hilarious. Those who follow that person are usually in for quite the treat. And no, it was not easy to pick a favorite.
And yes, I know I'm a day late for the #saturdayselections. Sorry about that. I had a fun weekend at a Chili-Cookoff where a friend sold his "Lemminglade", a lemon-ginger brew made with champaign-yeast. Quite refreshing, delicious and highly intoxicating. We then went for an after-sit-in to my roof while the kids watched Lilo & Stitch. It was an incredibly joyful day and weekend.
What are your thoughts about this topic? Please feel free to engage in any original way, including dropping links to your posts on similar topics. I'm happy to read (and curate) any quality content that is not created by LLM/AI.
Post written for the #weekend-engagement by @galenkp inviting us to answer selected questions in the Weekend Experiences community each week.
This is my response to:
2 - Without naming or tagging them, who is the Hive user you like the most and why?
5 - Do you think you (personally) should follow rules and direction or not? Explain.
Thank you for reading!
Thank you, thank you. I'm flattered that you find me not only amusing but educational. And they say Germans have no sense of humour!
Yeah it was that obvious? 😅 And there's a reason I'm not living in Germany. Though Ecuador isn't that much better, dark humor is not well received (or understood?) here, which kind of gets me in trouble from time to time.
This hit me when I had the realization that rules where not fixed lines on the sand that one can't crossed but but more so arbitrary frameworks to operate within a specific situation. As a young child, I did broke a number of rules and the consequences were quite underestimated lol. I go out at night, sit on a terrace till past midnight and then go to sleep, nothing dramatic happened as I've meant to believe :)
Yeah, as children we do test rules all the time, and it's somewhat expected from us. Still, most of them exist for a reason. And yet it's important to make our own experiences with them.
J-walking is safer than crossing at a 4 way intersection. People become tot complacent when obeying the rules - it glows 'green', so I go - but what if the driver didn't see the red? I like J-walking - one, max two, way traffic, and I'm fully aware of it.
I'm not yet over it, I like to poke sticks in the wheels... to express descent, to stare down indoctrination... what I most rebel against is the lack of critical thinking. People tie up their identities in things that they haven't fully examined. And I don't know when will I satiate this appetite.
Maybe I grew tired then. I do loathe the lack of critical thinking, and mostly the lack of depth in almost every thought people have. But I don't rebel against it, just point it out from time to time and try to examine people's state of mind by pushing conversations quickly into what I conceive as more profound. Which is mostly rewarded with puzzled looks and "Oh, yeah I had an aunt that..." kind of superficial relate-ability, but sometimes there a smile pops up, a fire starts in the eyes, and one can feel that the other is relieved to be conversing on a different level.
Or is that poking sticks in wheels? It's nothing like the protest I used to carry on with in my university days, 1st of May in Hamburg and such. Though maybe now it's more thoughtful, and hopefully more fruitful.
Oh no, I won't pretend that my poking sticks is the same as university demonstrations! I respect those, and understand the vast chasm between that and my internet ramblings.
I think that the biggest thing that I take away from your post is to avid becoming a rebel for the sake of attention - slipping into individualism, as opposed to building community. The appeal of a a spot light can be very seductive - especially if there is audience.
But yes, a good deep conversation, where you truly feel engaged intellectually is rare... most people avoid these all together.
Actually, this reminds me of my cousin... 😏
That is a great take-away! That alone made it worth writing the post :-)
About the first part of your comment: It's actually something that I learned here in Ecuador. That you can't count on people complying with any rule, ever. One might think that leads to a higher situational awareness, but for some reason it doesn't. Sometimes reminds me of lemmings.
I see it in Lily, too. She is really good crossing the street by herself. But as soon as I'm around, she completely forgets about all safety, and just goes on. As if I could stop cars...
She feels safe with you and that's the good side. But dependency and complacency are dangerous. So you might want to ask her to teach you how to cross the road correctly - give her the responsibility, and make her learn by turning her into a teacher... disclaimer: I don't have kids.
Yeah 'Ecuador' and 'rules' in one sentence simply doesn't work.
That's an interesting idea. She did teach it very well to a friend of hers. As I said, she absolutely knows how to do it perfectly - it's just when I'm around that she gets careless. But maybe she'll get it when she has to show me... I'll try and let you know!