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This page in a nutshell: Ignore all rules – but only for good reasons |
“Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men.”
Wikipedia: Ignore All Rules, often referred to as WP:IAR, is one of the WP:five pillars of Wikipedia. It's remarkable in its brevity, and is reproduced in full below:
or, in its original form:
Perhaps the spirit of the rule could be said in an even better way:
There are multiple legitimate purposes for this rule to exist. For example:
However, many people seem to misunderstand the spirit of the rule, and think it's a convenient excuse to ignore anything they disagree with. This goes against the intention of the rule. Essentially, WP:IAR has some things implied:
Think of it like "free speech". It exists, but there are limitations. Use your common sense!