Hanlon's razor: Difference between revisions
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}} | ||
{{Short description|Adage to assume stupidity over malice}} | {{Short description|Adage to assume stupidity over malice}} | ||
'''Hanlon's razor''' is an [[Proverb|adage]], or [[rule of thumb]], that states: | '''Hanlon's razor''' is an [[Proverb|adage]], or [[rule of thumb]], that states: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."<ref name=murphytwo/> It is a [[philosophical razor]] that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior. It is purportedly [[List of eponymous laws|named after]] one Robert J. Hanlon,<ref name="JargonFile2002"/> who submitted the statement to ''Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!'' (1980).<ref name=murphytwo/> Similar statements have been recorded since at least the 18th century. | ||
It is a [[philosophical razor]] that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior. It is purportedly [[List of eponymous laws|named after]] one Robert J. Hanlon,<ref name="JargonFile2002"/> who submitted the statement to ''Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong!'' (1980).<ref name=murphytwo/> Similar statements have been recorded since at least the 18th century. | |||
==Origin== | ==Origin== | ||
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}} ([https://archive.org/details/murphyslawbooktw00bloc/page/52/mode/2up?q=malice search result in archive.org])</ref> | }} ([https://archive.org/details/murphyslawbooktw00bloc/page/52/mode/2up?q=malice search result in archive.org])</ref> | ||
A similar quotation appears in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s novella | A similar quotation appears in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s 1941 novella "[[Logic of Empire]]".<ref name="JargonFile1996">{{cite web | ||
| url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-4.0.0.dos.txt | | url = https://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-4.0.0.dos.txt | ||
| title = The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0 | | title = The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0 | ||
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== See also == | == See also == | ||
* [[Occam's razor]] | |||
* [[Hitchens's razor]] | |||
* {{slink|Mike Alder|Newton's flaming laser sword}} | * {{slink|Mike Alder|Newton's flaming laser sword}} | ||
* [[Finagle's law]] | * [[Finagle's law]] | ||
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==Literature== | ==Literature== | ||
* {{cite book |last1=Hubbard |first1=Douglas W. |title=The | * {{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 |doi=10.1002/9781119521914}} | ||
[[Category:Adages]] | [[Category:Adages]] | ||
Latest revision as of 20:43, 5 November 2025
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short description Hanlon's razor is an adage, or rule of thumb, that states: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."[1] 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,[2] who submitted the statement to Murphy's Law Book Two: More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong! (1980).[1] 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,[2] 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).[1]
A similar quotation appears in Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 novella "Logic of Empire".[3] The character Doc in the story describes the "devil theory" fallacy, explaining, "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."[4]
Hanlon's razor became well known after its inclusion in the Jargon File, a glossary of computer programmer slang, in 1990.[5] 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.[6][7] 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".[3] 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.[8][9] In 2002, the Jargon File entry noted the same.[10] The Jargon File now calls it a "Murphyism".[2]
The name was inspired by Occam's razor.[11]
Variations
Grey's law (a humorous parallel to Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd law): Template:Quote
Douglas W. Hubbard quoted Hanlon's razor and added "a clumsier but more accurate corollary": Template:Quote
A variation appears in The Wheels of Chance (1896) by H. G. Wells:
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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.[12]
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A similar quote is also misattributed to Napoleon.[13] 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."[14]Template:Reference page
See also
- Occam's razor
- Hitchens's razor
- Template:Slink
- Finagle's law
- Principle of charity
- Sturgeon's law
- List of eponymous laws
References
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Literature
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