Default Alive or Default Dead?
In the world of high angle rope rescue, we have a concept called the "whistle test". The idea is that if someone were to randomly blow a whistle at _any_ point, and everyone let go of whatever they were holding, that no one would be dropped.<p>It takes a lot of thought and planning to make sure you're 'default alive' in all circumstances. It slows you down, and it requires you to think through the implications of every decision, big and small.<p>This sounds like a fairly similar notion...