Hanlon's razor
Sign in to saveAlso known as Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
philosophical adage stating "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
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Encyclopedic overview
Hanlon's razor is an adage, or rule of thumb, that states: "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).
Origin
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Hanlon's razor” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.