THEO WOLF

We all feel the oppressive presence of rules. We think rules are hampering our freedom and argue that they should be broken.

It is not really the rules that are the problem, but the unjustified ones.

While genetic research stands out in favour of rigidity, there is contrary evidence.

• One is that most psychology studies are done using Western undergraduates. This means that while we think we measure universal human functioning, we may be measuring culturally-specific ones.

We’ve all experienced the pain of living under unfair or unsympathetic rules, especially the ones imposed on us as children by teachers and grownups.

We fear the prospect of losing any of our freedom, and we tend to think of rules as devices that only constrain.