• TriflingToad@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    hmm, seems like that has to have a name where you try to simplify something but you slowly realize why each piece was needed. Best I could find is “Chesterton’s Fence”.

    There’s an unwritten rule in the remote Australian Outback. When traversing vast cattle farms on endless gravel roads, every once in a while, you might come across a seemingly random gate. The rule is to leave the gate as you found it. If it’s open, keep it that way. If it’s closed, shut it behind you. The reason is simple: You shouldn’t make assumptions about the gate’s purpose. That’s essentially the idea behind Chesterton’s Fence, a principle everyone in the business of enacting change should know.