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The problem is that spelling out complicated things is hard. Take the law for example - in theory we have a coherent code that specifies exactly what things are crimes and the appropriate methods of dealing with them. In practice, it takes teams of highly trained professionals and an elaborate system of courts to clarify what these laws mean in all but the most trivial cases.

Generally you need some flexibility to handle slight variations in circumstance whenever making a decision, and at times things come down to judgement calls that can not be turned into an algorithm. But bureaucracies don't like empowering their workers to make decisions, and so you get ever more conoluted instructions to shift the decision making process higher up the ladder.




Which legal theory postulates a ‘coherent code that specifies exactly what things are crimes and the appropriate methods of dealing with them’?


That is a different use of the word theory, and serves as an excellent example of why the problem of communicating complex ideas so unambiguously as to eliminate the need for interpretation is so intractable.


More concretely, I have never read or encountered anyone educated in or practicing law who supposed this could even exist.

Where did you acquire this notion?




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