If I may throw my two fundamental units of an arbitrary currency into
the discussion.
On rules vs. good ideas:
The problem with rules, and hence the resitance of many wikipedian's
to their enaction, is that they are inflexible, absolute, cannot be
written with all circumstances in mind, and very often outgrow their
intended purpose and assume a life of their own. A good idea, however,
can be changed, it can develop and it needn't be applied concretely
regardless of context.
The recognition of this problem in Wiki communities is evident with
the original "Ignore all rules" dictum, and is perhaps best expressed
in Chuck Yeager's aphorism "Rules are made for people who aren't
willing to make up their own". For people to be positive contributors
to the wikipedia, beyond a very small scope, they must be willing and
able to moderate their own behaviour, to understand wikiquette and its
implications, to be able to assess their and others' actions
objectively and rationally, and to put themselves into a neutral
mindset when disputes arise.
Rules erode this responsibility. If there are rules that are used
without contextual interpretation to dictate what behaviour is
acceptable, and what isn't, people will not put so much consideration
into enforcing their own codes and principles of editing. That is not
to say that rules and virtues cannot co-exist, but only that for a
large number of people, the presence of the former seems to invalidate
the need for the latter.
A good wikipedian, whose name I forget, explained to 3RR to me in a
very useful way, explaining that it is best to be seen as a slap in
the face because if one has to resort to reverting the same page
thrice in one day, there is something wrong with one's
editing/dispute-resolution procedures.
So why don't we start viewing the 3RR as a good idea, an inspiration
for finding better ways to overcome dispute and achieve consensus, and
a tool to let people know when they need to introspect. But let us not
view is as a commandment, set in stone, to be applied rigidly.
Anyhow, just bouncing ideas about.
Yours in liberty,
-nsh