Hanlon’s razor
Table of Contents
1. Hanlon’s razor
Hanlon’s razor is a principle or rule of thumb that states “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”
Known in several other forms, it is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behaviour.
1.1. Assume stupidity/incompetence before malice
1.2. https://fs.blog/2017/04/mental-model-hanlons-razor/
Douglas Hubbard expanded upon the idea in Failure of Risk Management: Why it’s Broken and How to Fix it:
I would add a clumsier but more accurate corollary to this: ‘Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system of interactions.’ People behaving with no central coordination and acting in their own best interest can still create results that appear to some to be clear proof of conspiracy or a plague of ignorance.
People do things that make immediate sense to them
1.3. Exceptions and Issues
Like any mental model, Hanlon’s razor has its limitations and its validity has been contested.
Some critics consider Hanlon’s razor to be an overly naive idea which can blind people to true malice.
While people have malicious intent far less often than we think, it is still something which must be taken into account.
Sometimes actions which could be attributed to incompetence are in fact consciously or unconsciously malicious.
An instance of Hanlon’s razor being proven wrong is the mafia. Prior to the 1960s, the existence of the mafia was considered to be a conspiracy theory. Only when a member contacted law enforcement, did police realize that the malice being perpetrated was carefully orchestrated.