Perhaps they were chosen a very long time ago.
Or with very little thought.
It could be that the constraints that led to the default are long gone.
They might be perpetuating bad choices, injustice or sub-optimal outputs.
The best way to fix something is to look at what we assume is the ‘right’ starting spot.
In persistent systems, it might be difficult to change the default setting, but knowing what it is and how it got there is a great place to begin.
PS on this topic, in two weeks people are going to give out a bazillion dollars worth of cheap chocolate for Halloween. Please don’t buy cheap chocolate.