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> It has no verdict on whether or not something should be changed. Hard disagree. The difficulty of discovering the reasons for Chesterton's Fence and the impo
by jjoonathan 4y ago
> It has no verdict on whether or not something should be changed.
Hard disagree. The difficulty of discovering the reasons for Chesterton's Fence and the impossibility of ever being certain that you have discovered them all means that it actually is a general prescription for caution / against change.
Of course, as always, it comes down to a judgement call. Do you understand the reasons for Chesterton's Fence well enough? Unfortunately, that's exactly the same situation one was in before the Chesterton's Fence metaphor was brought up, so either the metaphor is completely useless (by way of being disclaimed into oblivion) or it is a general prescription for caution / against change.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- philwelch 4y agoI think the way you're conflating "for caution" and "against change" is a bit of sleight of hand though. I would definitely agree that it's a prescription for caution, but not necessarily against change.
- fsckboy 4y agothe bias you detect is actually the bias of the changers; from experience we learn that the people who agitate for change are overwhelmingly likely to not look into the reasons things are the way they are.
- antihero 4y agoIt isn’t against change, it’s about making the correct change and correct amount of change to achieve the desired result, which can often be no change. It’s against wanton and unwise change. Considering nuance in qualification “disclaimed into oblivion” is needlessly derisive.