Erlang's let-it-crash philosophy - applicable elsewhere?

Question

Erlang\'s (or Joe Armstrong\'s?) advice NOT to use defensive programming and to let processes crash (rather than pollute your code with needless gu

Answer 1

I write programs that rely on data from real world situations and if they crash they can cause big $$ in physical damage (not to mention big $$ in lost revenue). I would be out of a job in a flash if I did not program defensively.

With that said I think that Erlang must be a special case that not only can you restart things instantly, that a restarted program can pop up, look around and say "ahhh .. that was what I was doing!"