This is Alpha, the first-born, when he was 2YO.
This is Beta, the second-born, when he was about 2YO.
This is Gamma, the third-born, when he was about 18MO.
Rules, Part 2
Apr
22
2021
One of the sayings that I didn’t understand for a long time was “You have to know the rules in order to break them.”
That and Outback Steakhouse’s slogan “No rules just right”.
But I always thought it was easier to break rules if you didn’t know them, because how are you supposed to obey something if you don’t know what it is. In fact, it seemed more likely to me that you would break the rules if you didn’t know them, and knowing the rules would spur you to follow them. But the phrase was meant for guidelines and I was applying it to laws.
Then I learned something from Picasso. I now get to share my favorite illustration (literally and figuratively) of that concept. Pablo Picasso was an artist who was known to not follow standard rules.
First off – a quiz! Which of these pictures was drawn by Pablo Picasso?
Figure A.
Figure B.
Figure C.
If you answered B, you are correct.
And if you answered C, you are correct.
Also if you answered A, you are correct.
Those pictures are from a sequence he drew to demonstrate his process for reducing an object to its essential elements. In order for him to draw abstractly, he had to be able to draw the items “correctly” in the first place.
In other words, he had to know the rules and be able to follow them, in order to be able to break them.
But they aren’t rules, so he didn’t break them. He just understood his discipline well enough to know how to change things to accomplish his goals.
When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock.
Ezekiel 43:23
This little article thingy was written by Some Guy sometime around 11:07 pm and has been carefully placed in the Life category.
