hanlon's razor
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Short description|Adage to assume stupidity over malice}}
Hanlon's razor is an adage, or rule of thumb, that states:
{{Quote|Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.}}
It is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior. It is purportedly named after one Robert J. Hanlon, who submitted the statement to Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980). Similar statements have been recorded since at least the 18th century.
Origin
The adage was a submission credited in print to Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in a compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law published in Arthur Bloch's Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980).{{cite book
| title = Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!
| url = https://archive.org/details/murphyslawbooktw00bloc
| url-access = registration
| publisher = Price Stern Sloan
| author = Arthur Bloch
| year = 1980
| page = [https://archive.org/details/murphyslawbooktw00bloc/page/52 52]
| isbn = 9780417064505| author-link = Arthur Bloch
}} ([https://archive.org/details/murphyslawbooktw00bloc/page/52/mode/2up?q=malice search result in archive.org])
A similar quotation appears in Robert A. Heinlein's novella Logic of Empire (1941).{{cite web
| url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-4.0.0.dos.txt
| title = The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0
| editor = Eric S. Raymond
| date = 1996-07-24
| publisher = jargon-file.org
| access-date = 2017-07-19}} The character Doc in the story describes the "devil theory" fallacy, explaining, "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."{{cite magazine
| url = https://archive.org/stream/Astounding_v27n01_1941-03_Gorgon776_starhome/Astounding_v27n01_1941-03_Gorgon776__starhome#page/n37/mode/2up
| title = Logic of Empire
| author = Robert Heinlein
| date = 1941-03-01
| page = 39
| magazine = Astounding Science-Fiction
| volume = 27
| issue = 1
| access-date = 2018-08-08}}
Hanlon's razor became well known after its inclusion in the Jargon File, a glossary of computer programmer slang, in 1990.{{cite web
| url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-2.1.1.dos.txt
| title = The Jargon File, Version 2.1.1 (Draft)
| editor1 = Guy L. Steele
| editor2 = Eric S. Raymond
| date = 1990-06-12
| publisher = jargon-file.org
| access-date = 2017-07-19}} Later that year, the Jargon File editors noted lack of knowledge of the term's derivation and the existence of a similar epigram by William James, although this was possibly intended as a reference to William James Laidlay.{{cite web
| url = https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/12/30/not-malice/
| title = Never Attribute to Malice That Which Is Adequately Explained by Stupidity
| author = Quote Investigator
| date = 2016-12-30
| publisher = quoteinvestigator.com
| access-date = 2022-12-24}}{{cite web
| url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-2.2.1.dos.txt
| title = The Jargon File, Version 2.2.1
| editor2 = Guy L. Steele
| editor1 = Eric S. Raymond
| date = 1990-12-15
| publisher = jargon-file.org
| access-date = 2017-07-19}} In 1996, the Jargon File entry on Hanlon's Razor noted the existence of the phrase in Heinlein's novella, with speculation that Hanlon's Razor might be a corruption of "Heinlein's Razor". The link to Murphy's law was described in a pair of 2001 blog entries by Quentin Stafford-Fraser, citing emails from Joseph E. Bigler.{{cite web
| url = https://statusq.org/archives/2001/11/26/
| title = [untitled]
| first = Quentin
| last = Stafford-Fraser
| date = 2001-11-26
| access-date = 2017-07-19}}{{cite web
| url = https://statusq.org/archives/2001/12/04/
| title = The origins of Hanlon's Razor
| first = Quentin
| last = Stafford-Fraser
| date = 2001-12-04
| access-date = 2017-07-19}} In 2002, the Jargon File entry noted the same.{{cite web
| url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-4.3.2.dos.txt
| title = The Jargon File, Version 4.3.2
| editor = Eric S. Raymond
| date = 2002-03-03
| publisher = jargon-file.org
| access-date = 2017-07-19}} The Jargon File now calls it a "Murphyism".{{cite web
| url = http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/H/Hanlons-Razor.html
| title = Hanlon's Razor
| work = Jargon File
| date = 2002-03-03
| publisher = Eric S. Raymond
| access-date = 2017-07-19}}
The name was inspired by Occam's razor.{{cite book
| title=Il potere della stupiditÃ
| first=Giancarlo
| last=Livraghi
| publisher=Monti & Ambrosini SRL
| location=Pescara, Italy
| year=2004
| page=1
| isbn=9788889479131}}
Variations
Grey's law (a humorous parallel to Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd law): {{Quote|Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.{{cite web
| url = https://medium.com/personal-growth/the-world-is-not-out-to-get-you-a7233699b0de
| title = The world is not out to get you
| first = Gustavo | last = Razzetti
| date = 2019-07-08
| website = medium.com
| access-date = 2024-09-29}}}}
Douglas W. Hubbard quoted Hanlon's razor and added "a clumsier but more accurate corollary": {{Quote|Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system.{{sfn|Hubbard|2020|pp=81-82}} }}
A variation appears in The Wheels of Chance (1896) by H. G. Wells:
{{Blockquote|There is very little deliberate wickedness in the world. The stupidity of our selfishness gives much the same results indeed, but in the ethical laboratory it shows a different nature.{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=H. G. |title=The Wheels of Chance |year=1896}}}}
A similar quote is also misattributed to Napoleon.{{cite web |last1=Selin |first1=Shannon |title=Napoleon Misquoted - Ten Famous Things Bonaparte Never Actually Said |url=https://militaryhistorynow.com/2014/07/14/ten-famous-things-napoleon-never-actually-said/ |website=MilitaryHistoryNow.com |access-date=12 April 2019 |date=14 July 2014}} Andrew Roberts, in his biography of Winston Churchill, quotes from Churchill's correspondence with King George VI in February 1943 regarding disagreements with Charles de Gaulle: "His insolence ... may be founded on stupidity rather than malice."{{cite book | first = Andrew | last = Roberts | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 2019 | title = Churchill: Walking with Destiny | isbn = 9781101981009 | location = New York }}{{Reference page|771}}
See also
- {{slink|Mike Alder|Newton's flaming laser sword}}
- Finagle's law
- Principle of charity
- Sturgeon's law
- List of eponymous laws
References
{{Spoken Wikipedia|Hanlon's_razor.ogg|date=2019-10-3}}
{{wikiquote|Robert J. Hanlon}}
{{Reflist}}
Literature
- {{cite book |last1=Hubbard |first1=Douglas W. |title=The failure of risk management: why it's broken and how to fix it |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley |location=Hoboken, New Jersey |isbn=9781119522034 |edition=Second}}