Baldwin's gun paradox

Baldwin's gun paradox typically occurs when a specific and equal amount of responsibility is distributed to a number of individuals surpassing the sum of 1, usually as a form of repetitive fail-safe (ie verify that a gun is not loaded with real bullets before it is fired at someone or confirming that no one is standing in the industrial oven with a timed locked door before it is turned on), sometimes resulting in each successive person erroneously believing that the person prior to them made the proper verification which they are now themselves certifying without any actual verification from their part as required by their role. Any guilt resulting from a catastrophic failure of the entire verification chain will either be attributed to none of the individuals involved or exclusively to the lowest person on the totem pole. See also: Shit trickles down rule