Adhere To, Follow, Obey

[learningspirit]

I have a question about the verbs "adhere to", "follow", and "obey" . Suppose there is a plan, and part of the plan includes a particular person (Mike) giving a speech reading from a prepared text. The plan also contains rules for other activities. If I write the following sentences:


1a. "Mike adhered to the prepared text."
1b. "Mike followed the prepared text."
1c. "Mike obeyed the prepared text."

2a. "Mike adhered to the rules."
2b. "Mike followed the rules."
2c. "Mike obeyed the rules."


Since "obey" is similar to "follow" and "adhere to", and 2c is okay due to the correctness of 2a+2b, then 1c should bee okay due to the correctness of 1a+1b. But for some reason, 1c seems a little off to me. What do native speakers think?

 

[bhaisahab]

It is not possible to obey a text.

 

[learningspirit]

If one can "follow" the rules, then one can also "obey" the rules. Yet, if one can "follow" the prepared text, one cannot "obey" the prepared text, for reasons only known to native speakers?

 

[Skrej]

Yes - as I've pointed out many times that language doesn't work like math. The converse doesn't always follow.

All dogs are mammals. Just because something isn't a dog, doesn't mean it isn't a mammal. Just because something's a mammal, doesn't mean it's a dog.

This concept isn't unique to English, so I'm not sure why you persist in trying to apply it.