Accidentally Load Bearing • Hacker News Board

Re: Accidentally Load Bearing

#201

Post by woleium » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 1:49 PM UTC

TheCapn wrote: post #28

Huh. Finally a name for it. I do a lot of support work for Control Systems. It isn't unheard to find a chunk of PLC code that treats some sort of physical equipment in a unique way that unintentionally creates problems. I like to parrot a line I heard elsewhere: "Every time Software is used to fix a [Electrical/Mechanical] problem, a Gremlin is born". But often enough when I find a root cause of a bug, or some sort o…

Chesterton's Fence is a principle that says change should not be made until the reasoning behind the current state of affairs is understood. It says the rash move, upon coming across a fence, would be to tear it down without understanding why it was put up.

Re: Accidentally Load Bearing

#202

Post by dventimihasura » Mon, Jul 31, 2023, 2:30 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #198

dventimihasura wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoever put it there isn't answering any questions, and neither are the people who made it load-bearing later, if they're not alive anymore. No, the question is for you. If you owned this property, would you want to know about the work done by the people who came later and made it load-bearing, or would you rather remain unaware as you go about your renovations?

All models are false, some are useful. Knowing the whole history of everything that anyone has ever done in your property would be ideal, but impossible. Knowing why things were originally put in is a useful heuristic that strikes a good balance between simplicity and false positives/negatives.

Sounds like the answer is, "No, I would prefer to be unaware as I go my renovations."

Re: Accidentally Load Bearing

#203

Post by lmm » Mon, Jul 31, 2023, 11:07 PM UTC

dventimihasura wrote: post #202

lmm wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All models are false, some are useful. Knowing the whole history of everything that anyone has ever done in your property would be ideal, but impossible. Knowing why things were originally put in is a useful heuristic that strikes a good balance between simplicity and false positives/negatives.

Sounds like the answer is, "No, I would prefer to be unaware as I go my renovations."

If I could know everything, I would. But unfortunately every piece of knowledge has a cost.

Re: Accidentally Load Bearing

#204

Post by dventimihasura » Tue, Aug 01, 2023, 7:56 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #203

dventimihasura wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like the answer is, "No, I would prefer to be unaware as I go my renovations."

If I could know everything, I would. But unfortunately every piece of knowledge has a cost.

So does ignorance.