Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by strken 3264 days ago
It sounds like locking down the API was an entirely deliberate decision made at the same time as removing platform data from the website, which means Chesterton's fence[0] applies - we should work out why that decision was made before criticising it.

Discussion upthread is about commuters being pushed onto the tracks, which sounds like a good reason not to display data that isn't 100% certain.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Chesterton's fence

3 comments

I've never heard of "Chesterton's Fence" before and appreciate the introduction to the term. That said, I don't think your application is correct. The OP in this case is not the agent of change — he did not "reform" anything and does not have the capacity to act, he just analyzed/synthesized existing data.

(Also, on reflection, "Chesterton's Fence" is an unnecessarily complicated and overly verbose way of saying: "The MTA probably has a reason for the change.")

> we should work out why that decision was made

Good luck with that. I'd be amazed if you got a response.