<p>I appreciate the concept of strong honor codes, my daughter is at a school with one of them (including no proctors in exams). Certainly self-directed learning and personal responsibility are good things, but there are not many situations in real life where people are just trusted to do the right thing. Businesses audit their cash registers and inventory, the government is constantly playing catch-up in devising new ways to detect fraud in taxes and other services, and security cameras are increasingly used to monitor all types of situations to prevent misdeeds. Nobody assumes that people will just be honest in these situations, because when some are not, it affects everybody else.</p>
<p>I also believe cheating is very contagious and if you let those that take shortcuts get away with it easily, others will be too tempted to partake out of frustration or fear of losing their edge–corrupting the ethics of previously honest people. Much better to nip it in the bud, which also sends a message that it is taken seriously. So even if there are some people who will never cheat, and I agree, who will learn more and better by not doing so, they will be hurt in an environment where you have a great probability of getting away with it if you want to.</p>