If a rival explanation needs permission, you do not have a learning system. You have a court.
The Standing Right of Criticism is simple: any participant may introduce a rival explanation and a falsifiable test plan without asking first. The right is standing. It does not depend on rank, timing, or whether the current owner of the idea is comfortable. Retaliation for using it is itself a failure.
Picture a junior operator saying, “I think our forecast is wrong, and here is the test.” If that move is socially costly, your official explanation is already becoming sacred. The real disagreement will move underground into side chats, private workarounds, and quiet noncompliance.
That matters more now because bad explanations can be scaled faster than ever. If rival explanations are not lawful without permission, error will not stay small. It will ship.