Canonical · Systems & Incentives · Essay
Chesterton's Fence
G. K. Chesterton · 1929
"Don't tear down a fence until you know why it was put up."
You encounter a rule, a process, or a fence in a field with no obvious purpose. The naive move is to remove it. Chesterton's rule: first understand why it's there, and only then decide whether it's safe to remove.
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