> "Rules" are human mental constructs that the universe cares nothing for.
Yes, but we humans do.
> If you want to live your life chained up because somehow that proves or validates your ego, it will only impress similar minded individuals.
I don't need to impress anybody and I don't care what others think. This is a matter of self respect and good stewardship of the resources that we all need.
> You're still playing this game, yet win nothing at the end.
You can win plenty by playing by the rules.
> Realize that the only way you're going to get ahead is via advantages.
Sure, you can study and you can use that to your advantage. Or build up a web of people that you can rely on and that can rely on you.
> You can work hard or you can work smart...
You should go and watch 'the smartest boys in the room'. It's enlightening for those that think that they can obey some of the rules most of the time to get ahead.
You should go and watch 'the smartest boys in the room'. It's enlightening for those that think that they can obey some of the rules most of the time to get ahead.
From this it sounds like you are suggesting that breaking any rules will result in Enron. The arguments that come to mind are too complex to list them all here, so I'll just say that Enron is an example of what happens when people follow the rules as they actually exist in the system of greed, cronyism, and regulatory capture that governs some parts of our society.
> This is a matter of self respect and good stewardship of the resources that we all need.
It's self-respect to blindly do what others tell you? Remember, if there's any potential reason you'd disobey a rule you aren't really a rule-follower, you're just as willing to be the final arbiter of right and wrong as an anarchist is.
Following rules is the easy answer for sure and I guess if you see yourself as someone willing to go with the flow you have an easier time.
> You can win plenty by playing by the rules.
Of course, that's what rules are about. Can't have a game without them.
But if "it" was the right thing to do, why does society have to reward you for doing it? It's likely you're being fed a line, and a bit of the profits, so you'll go along with whatever abuse was so egregious it had to be codified as a rule just to get people to accept it.
I've never read a bug-free piece of code over a hundred lines long and the law isn't as well written as most of the code I've seen. And even if correct as envisioned, the validity of rules in general relies on the failed assumption that we knew more in the past than we do now.
Codified rules, like "representative" democracy, are harmful to a free society.
Yes, but we humans do.
> If you want to live your life chained up because somehow that proves or validates your ego, it will only impress similar minded individuals.
I don't need to impress anybody and I don't care what others think. This is a matter of self respect and good stewardship of the resources that we all need.
> You're still playing this game, yet win nothing at the end.
You can win plenty by playing by the rules.
> Realize that the only way you're going to get ahead is via advantages.
Sure, you can study and you can use that to your advantage. Or build up a web of people that you can rely on and that can rely on you.
> You can work hard or you can work smart...
You should go and watch 'the smartest boys in the room'. It's enlightening for those that think that they can obey some of the rules most of the time to get ahead.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/