Alan,
I wasn't really thinking of "rules" as such. Photographers seem to be tied to the Rule of Thirds. If you care to make an image with items placed carefully on the thirds, you will have a very boring picture. I've tried it, as a demonstration. In practice, it seems to be little more than the Rule of a Bit Off-Centre, which isn't much of a rule at all.
Rules is a very poor word to use anyway, as is suggests a prescription. I was thinking of useful it it to analyse what we believe to be successful and then trying to discover why. I think it's better done in like-minded groups rather than in isolated contemplation. We might discover that there are multiple reasons for approving an image.
If we step aside from photographer's concerns and look at other human enterprises, we might find some clues. Architects have historically been very interested in systems of proportion and harmony. They are obliged to plan ahead, because rectifying mistakes is prohibitively expensive for architecture. Photographers have much more flexibility. Even the most expensive re-shoot couldn't match the price of another Taj Mahal.
In music, too, there are well-established ways of constructing harmonious sounds. Not all music is required to be harmonious and so musicians have ways of predicting what combinations of sound will be sad, or threatening or awe-making. I don't think we can reasonably suggest that musicians are uncreative because of this. We might even suggest that knowledge expands their creativity.
There is a difference in photography. Many photographs are not constructed, but are captured and the photographer has to make the most of what's in front of the lens. This is not a universal truth. Many images are arranged and composed at leisure. Do we judge these things differently? Perhaps we only care if either genre transgresses our expectations. Something for another discussion.
*In my footnote (added after re-reading) I tried to distinguish between what can be taught directly and what person can learn by all sorts of means – observation, experience, reading, conversation, emulation and so on.
I'm pretty sure that the techniques of photography can be taught, of course.