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The more I learn about how society works the more I think that most laws/rules that are put in place aren't actually intended to be followed to the letter, but are there to ensure that people only break them infrequently and in relatively safe ways
Speeding is an obvious example in society. I know very few people who never speed, but the speed cameras and the no tolerance policies on holidays ensure that most people are very careful about how and when they speed - going 50km over the limit on the freeway is one thing, but speeding in areas where children can run out into the road is something else. And this is something that most people implicitly understand, that it's the kind of law that it's ok to break as long as you're careful.
Another example is the rules against plagiarism at university. In first year most of us were terrified to discuss any part of the assignment with each other because it might lead to accidentally incorporating someone else's idea into your work without realising it, and the penalty for getting caught ranges from immediate failure of the assignment to expulsion from the university. Now, five years later, we have no problems discussing the assignment and ideas on how to tackle it. On occasion I've even looked at my friends' code, both to help them debug and to get help. But again, the net effect of the rule is to make us very cautious about how we do that sort of thing. We always stop before actual plagiarism but all those lesser offences like sharing ideas, we do but in a fairly careful manner, and always make sure that whatever we write or code is entirely our own style.
Recreational drugs is another example (technically illegal but it's easy enough to find someone who knows someone if you really want to, and the more drugs you do the more likely you are to be caught)
Obviously there are places in the laws that this doesn't hold. There's no 'nice' way to murder or steal. My theory is also not intended to cover the excuse of "but everyone else is doing it" to justify doing things that are wrong. It's more a sense of, sometimes there's a reason why breaking a particular rule is so widespread, and in those cases I don't think much harm is done.
Speeding is an obvious example in society. I know very few people who never speed, but the speed cameras and the no tolerance policies on holidays ensure that most people are very careful about how and when they speed - going 50km over the limit on the freeway is one thing, but speeding in areas where children can run out into the road is something else. And this is something that most people implicitly understand, that it's the kind of law that it's ok to break as long as you're careful.
Another example is the rules against plagiarism at university. In first year most of us were terrified to discuss any part of the assignment with each other because it might lead to accidentally incorporating someone else's idea into your work without realising it, and the penalty for getting caught ranges from immediate failure of the assignment to expulsion from the university. Now, five years later, we have no problems discussing the assignment and ideas on how to tackle it. On occasion I've even looked at my friends' code, both to help them debug and to get help. But again, the net effect of the rule is to make us very cautious about how we do that sort of thing. We always stop before actual plagiarism but all those lesser offences like sharing ideas, we do but in a fairly careful manner, and always make sure that whatever we write or code is entirely our own style.
Recreational drugs is another example (technically illegal but it's easy enough to find someone who knows someone if you really want to, and the more drugs you do the more likely you are to be caught)
Obviously there are places in the laws that this doesn't hold. There's no 'nice' way to murder or steal. My theory is also not intended to cover the excuse of "but everyone else is doing it" to justify doing things that are wrong. It's more a sense of, sometimes there's a reason why breaking a particular rule is so widespread, and in those cases I don't think much harm is done.
