Chesterton’s Fence A Lesson in Second Order Thinking

Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking

rw-book-cover

Highlights

A core component of making great decisions is understanding the rationale behind previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse. (View Highlight)
- Tags:: thinking, decisionmaking, gamefilming,

Chesterton’s Fence is not an admonishment of anyone who tries to make improvements; it is a call to be aware of second-order thinking before intervening. It reminds us that we don’t always know better than those who made decisions before us, and we can’t see all the nuances to a situation until we’re intimate with it. Unless we know why someone made a decision, we can’t safely change it or conclude that they were wrong. (View Highlight)
- Tags:: thinking, secondorderthinking,
- Note: The initial choice or decision could have been absolutely terrible, insignificant, great, whatever it doesn’t really matter. What matters is even if it was a terrible decision, it may have a significant impact if it is changed. We must consider impact or consequences before blinding changing things. Chesterton’s fence. You have to know or at least consider why the fence was there in the first place before removing it.

Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking

rw-book-cover

Highlights

A core component of making great decisions is understanding the rationale behind previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse. (View Highlight)
- Tags:: thinking, decisionmaking, gamefilming,

Chesterton’s Fence is not an admonishment of anyone who tries to make improvements; it is a call to be aware of second-order thinking before intervening. It reminds us that we don’t always know better than those who made decisions before us, and we can’t see all the nuances to a situation until we’re intimate with it. Unless we know why someone made a decision, we can’t safely change it or conclude that they were wrong. (View Highlight)
- Tags:: thinking, secondorderthinking,
- Note: The initial choice or decision could have been absolutely terrible, insignificant, great, whatever it doesn’t really matter. What matters is even if it was a terrible decision, it may have a significant impact if it is changed. We must consider impact or consequences before blinding changing things. Chesterton’s fence. You have to know or at least consider why the fence was there in the first place before removing it.

Chesterton’s Fence: A Lesson in Second Order Thinking

rw-book-cover

A core component of making great decisions is understanding the rationale behind previous decisions. If we don’t understand how we got “here,” we run the risk of making things much worse. (View Highlight)

Chesterton’s Fence is not an admonishment of anyone who tries to make improvements; it is a call to be aware of second-order thinking before intervening. It reminds us that we don’t always know better than those who made decisions before us, and we can’t see all the nuances to a situation until we’re intimate with it. Unless we know why someone made a decision, we can’t safely change it or conclude that they were wrong. (View Highlight)
- Tags:: secondorderthinking, thinking,

Note:: The initial choice or decision could have been absolutely terrible, insignificant, great, whatever it doesn’t really matter. What matters is even if it was a terrible decision, it may have a significant impact if it is changed. We must consider impact or consequences before blinding changing things. Chesterton’s fence. You have to know or at least consider why the fence was there in the first place before removing it.