The "let it crash" is a sound and proven design philosophy, but it would be easier to grok if you were to spend time learning the platform, rather than comparing it in a vacuum with the things you already know.

It is quite frustrating when someone has already decided something they don't know is dumb or makes no sense. It is more plausible the unknown unknowns are blinding your judgement, than Erlang and Elixir developers worldwide suffering a collective hallucination, is it not?