Hanlon's razor

'''Hanlon's razor''' is an 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 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/>

==Origin== 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), the adage was titled "Hanlon's razor", without any indication of who "Hanlon" might be.<ref name=murphytwo>{{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])</ref>

A statement similar to Hanlon's razor 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 | 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}}</ref> The character Doc in the story describes the "devil theory" fallacy, explaining, "You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity."<ref>{{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}}</ref>

Hanlon's razor became well known after its inclusion in the ''Jargon File'', a glossary of computer programmer slang, in 1990.<ref name=jargon>{{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}}</ref> Later that year, the ''Jargon File'' editors declared its origin unknown, and wrote that there was a similar epigram by William James; however, it seems that this was a mistaken reference and that they actually meant William James Laidlay, since Laidlay is known to have written a comparable statement.<ref name=quoteinvestigator>{{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 = 2026-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> In 1996, the ''Jargon File'' entry on Hanlon's Razor noted the existence of a similar statement in Heinlein's novella, with speculation that "Hanlon's razor" might be a corruption of "Heinlein's Razor".<ref name="JargonFile1996"/> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref><ref>{{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}}</ref> In 2002, the ''Jargon File'' entry noted the same.<ref>{{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}}</ref> The ''Jargon File'' now calls it a "Murphyism".<ref name="JargonFile2002">{{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}}</ref>

The name was inspired by Occam's razor.<ref>{{cite book | title=Il potere della stupidità | first=Giancarlo | last=Livraghi | publisher=Monti & Ambrosini SRL | location=Pescara, Italy | year=2004 | page=1 | isbn=9788889479131}}</ref>

==Variations== Grey's law (a humorous parallel to Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd law): {{Quote|Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.<ref>{{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}}</ref>}}

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=H. G. |title=The Wheels of Chance |year=1896}}</ref>}}

A similar quote is also misattributed to Napoleon.<ref name=shan>{{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}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite book | first = Andrew | last = Roberts | publisher = Penguin Books | year = 2019 | title = Churchill: Walking with Destiny | isbn = 9781101981009 | location = New York }}</ref>{{Reference page|771}}

== See also == * List of eponymous laws * Finagle's law, anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment * Hitchens's razor, assertions made without evidence may be dismissed without evidence * {{slink|Mike Alder|Newton's flaming laser sword}}, do not dispute propositions unless they can be shown to have observable consequences * Occam's razor, the simplest explanation is often the correct one * Pareto Principle, roughly 80% of outcomes derive from 20% of causes * Peter Principle, bureaucratic inefficiency is ubiquitous because employees are promoted to their level of incompetence * Principle of charity, interpret a speaker's statements in the most rational way possible * Stigler's law of eponymy, an observation that no scientific discovery is named after its discoverer * Sturgeon's law, ninety percent of everything is crap

==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 |doi=10.1002/9781119521914}}

Category:Adages Category:Principles Category:Razors (philosophy) Category:Intention Category:Eponymous rules