Jose wrote:

There used to be a 250 hr (I think it was 250 but maybe 200)
requirement for an instrument rating. In later years the FAA has
gotten more enlightened and removed the hour requirement.


In 1984, to apply for an instrument rating you needed to have 200 hours
of pilot time, of which 100 was PIC, of which 50 was PIC XC time. I do
see the wisdom of requiring 200 hours of VFR time before getting the
instrument rating, and do not think it was a good idea to drop it. The
reason is that it is important to learn how to keep one's eyes outside
the cockpit before beginning intensive training in keeping them inside
the cockpit, especially as nowadays there are more geegaws inside the
cockpit vying for the pilot's attention.

Jose
It's all about a "license to learn."