Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Todays podcast offers an in-depth look at Chesterton's Fence, a principle advising against altering or removing an existing structure, rule, or tradition without first understanding the purpose behind its creation.
We explain that this concept, also termed "the doorman fallacy," cautions against rash reforms that overlook the hidden value or function of the existing system, citing the example of replacing a human doorman with an automatic door.
To illustrate the consequences of ignoring this principle, we detail the failure of Thor Heyerdahl’s first RA expedition, which omitted a critical structural rope from the ancient design, and describes a modern IT security breach resulting from the removal of a manual approval step in a legacy system.
Ultimately, we advocate for thorough research and due diligence across various fields, including public policy, engineering, and software development, before implementing changes.
I'm not employed by, paid or sponsored by, any company mentioned in these videos, I'm just a fan of their products.
An index of all our YouTube videos can be found here.
gsfsoftware.co.uk/PBTutorials/Projects.htm
Music by ghosthack.de
Todays podcast offers an in-depth look at Chesterton's Fence, a principle advising against altering or removing an existing structure, rule, or tradition without first understanding the purpose behind its creation.
We explain that this concept, also termed "the doorman fallacy," cautions against rash reforms that overlook the hidden value or function of the existing system, citing the example of replacing a human doorman with an automatic door.
To illustrate the consequences of ignoring this principle, we detail the failure of Thor Heyerdahl’s first RA expedition, which omitted a critical structural rope from the ancient design, and describes a modern IT security breach resulting from the removal of a manual approval step in a legacy system.
Ultimately, we advocate for thorough research and due diligence across various fields, including public policy, engineering, and software development, before implementing changes.
I'm not employed by, paid or sponsored by, any company mentioned in these videos, I'm just a fan of their products.
An index of all our YouTube videos can be found here.
gsfsoftware.co.uk/PBTutorials/Projects.htm
Music by ghosthack.de
