I actually agree with him, but I'd word it somewhat differently: Rules and legislation are made for a reason. Before you break a rule for your own self-interest or due to your own beliefs, make an as big an effort as you can to imagine how and why the rule is sensible and how following it could actually be better. Then, break the rule.
Of course this can sometimes take about 2 seconds and you conclude that the rule is utter crap in your situation's context.
There are laws of people ("no decapitating moron drivers"), laws of society ("no imploding buildings just to see what will happen", "no dumping your waste in the river"), and laws of multinational corporations ("no copying data, no tampering when we say no tampering, everybody must buy private health insurance, ...").
It's easier, and more valid, to ignore laws at the high end of the abstract-o-sphere.
> It's easier, and more valid, to ignore laws at the high end of the abstract-o-sphere.
This is an interesting proposition... I hadn't really considered the relationship between validity and abstraction in the context of law. What's your reasoning behind it? Has this been written about?
Of course this can sometimes take about 2 seconds and you conclude that the rule is utter crap in your situation's context.