Recently in a discussion, the subject of rules came up. Why do we need them?
While they may seem restrictive, rules help to restrain chaos. When in Malaysia, I had spoken about driving in the United States in one of my talks. Later, an audience member came up to me and said that when he and his wife had visited the US, they had been amazed by American's behavior at four-way stop intersections. Out in the middle of open country, with no one other car in sight, people stopped at the stop sign! They then proceeded on their way. The speaker said in Malaysia, the situation would have been very different.
Rules enable us to know what to do. Following them, we are able to relax, confident that we have done what is deemed correct.
Imagine visiting a country where you had never been and not knowing the local customs. You'd be worrying all the time if you were doing the right thing or if you were offending others. If you knew the rules for how to behave, you could relax and enjoy the new sights.
Rules can be liberating since we do not have to spend time puzzling over what to do or worrying that we might have done something inappropriate.