Why are local variables not initialized in Java?

Question

Was there any reason why the designers of Java felt that local variables should not be given a default value? Seriously, if instance variables can be given a default value,

Answer 1

Notice that the final instance/member variables don't get initialized by default. Because those are final and can't be changed in the program afterwards. That's the reason that Java doesn't give any default value for them and force the programmer to initialize it.

On the other hand, non-final member variables can be changed later. Hence the compiler doesn't let them remain uninitialised, precisely, because those can be changed later. Regarding local variables, the scope of local variables is much narrower. Compiler knows when its getting used. Hence, forcing programmer to initialize the variable makes sense.