Wikipedia:When IAR is ignored

Ignore all rules is one of the more high-profile of Wikipedia's five pillars. It is a controversial policy that many people forget or disagree with, yet it is the tenet on which Wikipedia will stand or fall. Nonetheless, we live in rapidly changing times and cannot afford to solely abide by static policies.

In a way, IAR devalues the other rules simply by existing. It is the Catch-22 to a place that we have set up to be highly process-reliant and structured.

Wikipedia is, of course, an encyclopedia. Thus, when we are focused on writing articles, rules work very well to direct our style of writing, our sources, and what other functions necessary to make a mediocre article great. We mustn't forget, however, that behind that encyclopedia is a community. Unlike articles, which are lifeless digital pieces of text, people are living beings, difficult to understand and judge. In this light, very few rules apply; when they do, there is often a foggy, moral gray area. For example, though we can say that a poorly-sourced article is inadequate, we can't easily say that someone who doesn't assume good faith is a bad person.

Simply put, sometimes we must ignore those rules.