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"The trouble with too much genre SF is that it's so obviously the product of the conscious mind."
- William Gibson

Amtal Rule  
  Testing to destruction  

AMTAL or AMTAL RULE: a common rule on primitive worlds under which something is tested to determine its limits or defects. Commonly: testing to destruction.
Technovelgy from Dune, by Frank Herbert.
Published by Putnam in 1965
Additional resources -

Modern example showing benefits of testing to destruction:

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  More Ideas and Technology from Dune
  More Ideas and Technology by Frank Herbert
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