A nerdy term that EAs and rationalists use for this is Chesterton’s fence, referring to a parable by the philosopher G. K. Chesterton about a fence that’s been erected across a road for reasons you don’t understand. You shouldn’t just remove the fence without knowing why it was put there in the first place, Chesterton thought. Maybe it protects against something—deer who will eat your foliage, wild boar who will trample your lawn, the zombies who tend to roam the town at night—that you very much want to protect against.
