WHY?

For almost the entirety of our education, we are told that we must draw inside the lines. There are countless rules that we MUST FOLLOW. We aren't quite sure why following the rules is so mandatory, but we follow the rules for fear of punishment. Any sort of rebellion against these rules results in stern punishments meant to keep us from breaking the rules again. The resulting punishment is often so harsh that we promise to ourselves that we will never break the rules ever again in order to avoid the punishment.

We live in a world that attempts to push everyone into the same box, and the articles we had to read for class to just that. The article lists blanket rules that for some reason we all must follow. In doing so the article completely disrespects the idea that we all have different abilities and as such are capable of completely different things. This article places everyone in the same box. These thoughts all beg the question of why? What is the point of this strangling blanket of rules on everyone everywhere. I have come to the conclusion that ideas are for average people. They serve as a way to control people who need to be controlled. The average person needs rules to protect them from themselves. In the eyes of the rule makers, not having rules for the average person would be anarchical state.

However while rules do a good job stopping average people from hurting themselves, brilliant people do not need rules to protect them because they are smart enough to be able to know what to do and what not to do. Interestingly enough the ones who make history are the ones who break the rules. The greatest among us didn’t become great by following rules, they broke the rules and changed the world as a result. The greatest among us break the molds that the rest of us are forced to be confined in.

A great example of geniuses breaking the mold of senseless rules that hold society in its talons is Beethoven. When Beethoven start, music was suffering under a tyranny of musical authoritarianism. The rules were the rules and they must be followed no questions asked or else you can’t possibly be taken seriously at all as a composer or a musician or any other part of the musical process. But Beethoven ended this tyranny of the rule, he broke the rules and made music better for it. Beethoven broke so many rules that he brought to an end an entire era of music and brought in a new era of music.

http://www.beethoven.ws/musical_style_and_innovations.html This hyper link lists some of the ways that Beethoven broke the mold for music and led to the changing of the age.

The point of all of this is to show the importance of not being afraid to violate rules that are only there to enforce conformity. If no one ever questioned rules, we would still be in the stone age. Advancement is only possible by the questioning of whatever holds us back, often times what holds us back is archaic rules which are no longer necessary. The world is a better place when rules that don't need to exist don't exist.

https://youtu.be/4Tr0otuiQuU