The Power to Decide

The bold text of the form was something similar to,

'I understand that I am giving up substantial rights'

This opens very obvious question: at what point can a person know that they understand? In this case I need merely sign the form, carrying the assumption that the signiture was proof enough of my comprehension.
But surely their must be times when something other than a person's clear thought can guide their hand. There are desperate people in desperate situations, and it becomes a difficult task to determine when desperation is ruling them.

There exists an idea, found in some political, social, or economic debate, of a pure contract. Although a highly intuitive idea: that a person may make a promise of a certain sanctity that may be used as a judge of them in the future. This begins to break down, however, when other forces are added. There will be a point at which the pure contract dissolves into nothing.
Thus the use of the pure contract is dangerous in forming any universal ideology. It will at some point cause the simplicity of the system to skip neatly over some chasm of the world.