Rules Have Benefits

I'm studying counterpoint, which is the way that notes interact with each other, and how to write countermelodies now. The majority of it is a bunch of rules which have to be implemented. A lot people, however, say that you should just listen to what sounds good. They say that rules, overall, just keep people back. I, however, disagree. Rules are needed to keep chaos from overtaking society and for defining our world.

John Locke and John Jacque Rousseau's social contracts both say that all people started out in a state of absolute freedom, or a "state of nature". In this state of nature, one has only one right: the right to do anything one wishes. Now, if all humans were good in intention, this would be no problem. Sadly, greed and jealousy get the best of humans, so a state of nature is one in which the strongest prosper and rule over the weak. This is, of course, not giving everyone rights. Therefore, as the social contract reads, humans banded together and formed government and rules. To do this, they gave up their absolute freedom in exchange for the protection of rights that government and its laws, or rules, provide.

The social contract is just one example of how rules are beneficial to us all. Another example of rules being beneficial is in science. There are certain laws in science, as everyone knows. These laws don't impede us, just give us our world. They etch out what our reality is. In our world, we cannot fly or walk through walls because the rules don't allow us to. Without these fundamental rules, our world wouln't be the same. The same goes for music. If we didn't have rules for making songs, then what sounds good would be completely different, and our musical world wouldn't be the same. Rules establish the workings of our world, whether it be our universe, or our society.

This is just another view on one part of our world. You are free to believe what you want. Also, I don't mean that you should blindly follow all existing rules. New rules should be introduced as well. I just hope that next time you go complaining about rules, you give my words a thought.