I was thinking about phenomenon's attributed to the bip110 debate and could also be lumped together with the blocksize wars, where we have historic data to show how decisions made in the past have panned out

• Present bias was one option
• Second order effects was another, frequently quoted in Bitcoin circles
• But the one which looked the most interesting was Chesterton's fence

Chesterton's Fence origins come from the Writer and philosopher G. K. Chesterton, from his book The Thing

The phenomenon is written as a metaphor, as stated below...The phenomenon is written as a metaphor, as stated below...

Suppose you come across a fence across a road. A modern reformer says, "I don't see the use of this fence; let's remove it." The wiser reformer replies, "If you don't see its use, you certainly shouldn't remove it. Go away and think. When you understand why it was put there, then you may decide whether to remove it."

The idea behind it quite evidently is....The idea behind it quite evidently is....

Don't abolish or alter an institution, rule, or design until you understand the problem it was originally solving

This doesn't mean the fence should never be removed. Rather...This doesn't mean the fence should never be removed. Rather...

• First understand why it exists
• Determine whether that reason still applies
• If not, remove or replace it with confidence

Bitcoin Core imo have been trying since Satoshi's departure to walk the tight rope of making decisions but not making them too rashly, I wonder if they have ever used this way of thinking in their decision making

For example....For example....

In the blocksize wars, bcashers said just make the blocks bigger, Chesterton's fence would say, why were they kept small? The answers we know well as the second order effects of bcash have been born out

In the case of the bip110ers, they are saying let's ban ordinals etc and any non money use cases, Chesterton's Fence would say, why does Bitcoin allow anything to be added? The answers are being debated as we speak, personally i like the piece in one of Scoresby's posts about the infringement of free speech, as soon as someone starts dictating what is allowed and not, it's a very slippery slope

The phenomenon doesn't prove either camp is wrong, it just says we should fully understand the original status quo before changing anything

Apparently Chesterton's Fence is used or applied in engineering, economics and protocol design (perfect for Bitcoin)

The important thing to remember is, Bitcoin has many moving parts that may look unnecessary until one understands the issues they were designed to prevent