Chesterton's Fence

I first heard of Chesterton’s Fence in this Farnam Street blog. Say, there’s a fence. People can see a dozen problems with/due to the fence. Therefore they decide to bring it down. Here’s the problem with that approach: not one of them tried to “see the reason for its existence” first…

 

After all:

“Fences don’t grow out of the ground, nor do people build them in their sleep or during a fit of madness… The reason might not be a good or relevant one; we just need to be aware of what the reason is. Otherwise, we may end up with unintended consequences: second- and third-order effects we don’t want, spreading like ripples on a pond and causing damage for years.”

A lot of interventions and changes fail because the above check wasn’t done.

 

The tendency to bring down age old “fences” is high. Sometimes, that’s a good thing, of course. But all too often, the reason behind the action isn’t great:

“(Action is based on) the all-too-common belief that previous generations were bumbling fools, stumbling around, constructing fences wherever they fancied.”

 

One can think of many scenarios where this has happened. Interestingly, the blog even talks of a very unintuitive example – trying to give up a bad habit. Like smoking or drinking too much. Even with such activities, he says, unless we ask why we took up those habits, any attempt to just get rid of the habit will either fail or result in a new habit that’s just as bad or worse:

“Bad habits generally evolve to serve an unfulfilled need: connection, comfort, distraction, take your pick.”

 

All of which is why Chesterton’s Fence is such an important idea:

“The first step before modifying an aspect of a system is to understand it. Observe it in full. Note how it interconnects with other aspects, including ones that might not be linked to you personally. Learn how it works, and then propose your change.”