Sometimes, you just have to let people touch the metaphorical hot stove.

We work so hard to enact safeguards that protect people from making poor choices. But those safeguards are often viewed as a shackle on individual liberty, either because they don’t understand or don’t care.

For many, experiencing the consequences of their actions and choices is the only way they’ll learn.

The problem is that, in a society as interconnected and dependent as ours, those of us who know the stove is hot often get burned in the process.