Does the metaphor actually include the age of the fence? I always thought the idea is just to understand why the fence is there before removing it, regardless o

Does the metaphor actually include the age of the fence? I always thought the idea is just to understand why the fence is there before removing it, regardless of its age. In theory, it should be easier to understand the reasoning behind the existence of newer fences, but the idea is still to do that step first... I mean, clearly some people just reject this entire idea as creating too much friction, and I can often see their point!, but I think we can at least avoid saying "it's a good concept, but it just doesn't apply in this case", and be honest about just rejecting the concept.