reverse Chesterton's fence

The Reverse Chesterton's Fence: before retvrning to a tradition, practice, or way of life, make sure you understand why people abandoned it in the first place, which parts of it are crucial to make it work vs random dogma, and what are the tradeoffs involved.
~made_in_cosmos

Picking up the babies lying in puddles of muddy bathwater and seeing what it takes for them to get to grow up is Reverse Chesterton's Fence in action.