30 Troublemakers Reveal What Rules Wouldn't Exist If It Wasn't For Them

It's no secret that craving for independence and autonomy is almost wired into us from a young age. After all, one of the very first words we learn in life is "no." But while it can serve us well and help us lead a fulfilling life, it can also awaken the inner rebel within us to loudly protest any request that comes our way. To learn more about our urge to revolt and refuse to take orders from others, we reached out to Dr. Simon Rego, Chief of Psychology at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

"It’s not that people don’t like being told what to do," he told Bored Panda. "It’s more about whether what they are being told to do aligns with their particular 'rules' (i.e., beliefs) about things." The licensed clinical psychologist explained that the closer these demands line with our own set of "rules," the less bothersome it feels. However, he added that when others require us to do things that clash with our own belief system, it tempts us to act out (i.e., break the rules), which could potentially get us into trouble.

According to Dr. Rego, if it’s a mild clash with a less important belief, "we may feel a mild emotion (annoyance). If a bigger clash with a more important belief, we may feel a more intense emotion (irritation, anger, rage)." He thinks that the cause for these behaviors is mostly related to how strongly and rigidly we hold our views. For example, "How important is the belief and how flexible are we with the idea that our beliefs are the 'right' ones and the 'only' ones that matter."

Psychologists call this need to revolt a psychological reactance. Essentially, this feeling emerges from our brain’s reaction when there’s a threat to our freedom or any restrictions to our lifestyle. It is especially noticeable when new guidelines are put in place, whether at home, school, or work, often leaving us upset and frustrated. Sometimes, when our psychological reactance gets out of control, we can find ourselves in the middle of heated fights with coworkers and arguments with loved ones, which can create even more troubling problems.

While it’s important to recognize when our rebellious side is acting out, it is okay to believe strongly in things, Dr. Rego argued. However, if you want to become better at handling your turbulent feelings, he suggested it would be helpful to be flexible with your way of seeing things. "In other words, it’s possible that many different beliefs can exist at the same time, without any of them being right or wrong. The more we are able to understand this, the less we will get upset when people don’t share our beliefs and the more willing we may be to consider someone else’s opinion when being told to do something," he told Bored Panda.

"We all have our own rules based on how we were raised and how we’ve experienced life. It’s much easier to manage our emotions by being flexible with our own beliefs than to try to force others to change their beliefs or assume that everyone sees things the way we do," Dr. Rego added.

We managed to get in touch with Redditor TheBlackTemplar125 who was kind enough to have a little chat with us. When asked how they came up with the idea to raise this question on the Ask Reddit community, the user revealed that they sometimes go on the platform to read captivating horror stories. One particular tale caught the user’s attention when they noticed an unusual rule that was put in place. You see, someone in that story passed away, so others decided to create a regulation that would prevent that from happening. "That's where my idea originates," they told us.

At the time of writing, TheBlackTemplar125’s post has amassed 40K upvotes and over 16K comments full of entertaining stories of how people acted out and got in trouble. However, the user was surprised to see it blow up as much as it did. "I expected it to get buried among more creative questions," they said. "I just wanted something to read." The user also feels grateful to witness how the community has improved over time: "Ask Reddit has evolved enough so that only original posts will get seen in the hoard of generic posts."

Reading through the responses in the thread proves that many people have a naturally rebellious side. How else would they come up with such shenanigans? Well, it's anything but boring to read how their actions make others shake their heads in disbelief, and TheBlackTemplar125 agrees. They told us that reading about others’ experiences and "picturing situations is fun. But people also like reading something to keep them occupied," the user said and added that they find short stories to be a great way to pass the time.