We Need Rules

We need rules because we can't control ourselves.

We must admit that we can't control ourselves.

Blah blah blah.

What's not being said is that we can control ourselves, but that there are consequences, and we don't like to feel uncomfortable.  In fact, we have a particularly low threshold for discomfort.  And it turns out, that we, and you, and me, are in fact, uncomfortable a fair amount of the time.

So we make rules.  To out beast the beast that's sitting there, waiting to draw up the blueprints of our demise.

Rules cut the mental effort in making a decision when certain indicators present themselves in a situation.

Their danger is that we'll actually miss out on a bunch of close calls.