That distinction between rules and state is only in our minds/models, though. In the actual universe, if there is such a distinction to an outside observer, it's lost to those of us stuck in it, because we can effect neither portion of reality.
I don't know if I agree - it seems to me that our ability to effect changes to one, but not the other, is precisely what defines the difference!
For example, my state is not "standing in the front yard", though it could be. I could easily make it so. However, there's a rule against "floating 10 feet up in the front yard without the aid of platforms or balloons, etc"... and I know this is a rule, not a state, precisely because I cannot float!
Actually, I think a direct comparison would involve saving the same person 100 times (it was the same movie 100 times). I think at some point I'd begin to wonder if the gene pool wouldn't be better off without someone that accident-prone (/suicidal)... or at the very least I'd suspect that his ability to need saving would probably outlast my finances, in which case I might as well accept his inevitable death and quit paying sooner rather than later!