Playing by the Rules

March 15, 2016
Today's world is full of arbitrary rules. No more than 3.4 ounces of liquid per container carried onto an airplane. Can't volunteer to coach soccer until you pass a background check, but it doesn't matter if you know the difference between a goal and a base. The password to log online and check your child's grades requires you to come up with a combination of three numbers, two capital letters, and the promise to sacrifice a goatand you need to change it every three months. Brown and Hanlon argue that these rules not only don't keep anyone safer, they also put us at riskby making us feel more secure than we really are, or causing rule fatigue, which leads to stress and noncompliance. In fast-paced chapters, the authors outline a number of seemingly pointless rules and advocate for challenging anything that doesn't make sense. Readers will enjoy the anecdotes and will be inspired to rage against the machine. After all, the code to unlock the nukes during the Cuban Missile Crisis was 00000000. Can't we go back to a simpler time?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)