For example, why do students lose points for late homework? In what way is homework less valuable the day after it was due, besides a rule that just says so? T

For example, why do students lose points for late homework? In what way is homework less valuable the day after it was due, besides a rule that just says so? The point isn't to demonstrate the value of the homework. As you just stated, the homework itself often has very little intrinsic value. The value is to get you used to dealing with deadlines. Do you really think that your boss is going to let you miss deadline after deadline without a credible reason? Even if you don't have "boss" in the traditional sense (e.g. if you're doing a startup) do you think your investors are going to let you miss multiple ship dates without consequence? You might not like it, but that's the way the world works. People need to plan ahead, and they need your products, assignments, code, or whatever by a certain date, otherwise it affects their plans. In the case of your teacher, he or she isn't assigning the deadline to be arbitrary or capricious. He or she is making the assignment due by a particular date so that he or she can get it graded and back to you in a timely manner. Submitting assignments whenever might be okay if you're the only one in the class. But if you take your attitude and multiply it out by the twenty, thirty (or sometimes even forty) other students he or she has to teach, it's a recipe for chaos.