---
title: "On Dumb rules"
description: "Puffing at altitude, the irreversibility of standards, and the need for garbage collection"
author: "Ghaith Ayadi"
site: "Verbatim"
collection: "Hokum"
url: "https://verbatim.ayadighaith.com/hokum/on-dumb-rules"
date: 2022-12-27
updated: 2026-09-16
---
# On Dumb rules

Today it finally happened: the pilot of my Swissair flight turned off the no smoking sign. "Smoke'em if you got'em", she said. The passengers were ecstatic. Even though I'm not a smoker, I helped myself to a fatty that I keep taped to my passport in anticipation of this elusive moment. Vice never felt as good...

Here's the moral of the story: Just because something had a reason to exist and become ubiquitous, doesn't mean it's not dumb. Namely, Industry standards are standard for a reason, but that doesn't mean they're not dumb. Often, they are.

Here's a dumb thing that we all have to live with now: Cookie banners. They are the No smoking sign of the internet. It's dummer than glass phones. Dummer than a master's degree in innovation, which is saying something... 

I hereby declare that I refuse all non-edible cookies until the end of my days.

The fact that cookies and all sorts of tracking are not silent opt-ins is a sign that the internet is slipping away from us. Soon enough, products risk becoming like airports and planes: 20% value, and 120% malarkey.

- The irreversibility of standards
- The necessity of garbage collection