Editing Hanlon's razor

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Short description|Adage to assume stupidity over malice}}
'''Hanlon's razor''' is an [[Proverb|adage]], or [[rule of thumb]], that states:<ref name=murphytwo/>
{{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 [[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==
The adage was a submission credited in print to Robert J. Hanlon of [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]],<ref name="JargonFile2002"/> 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).<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 similar quotation appears in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s novella ''[[Logic of Empire]]'' (1941).<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 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 Laidlay|William James Laidlay]].<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 = 2022-12-24}}</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 the phrase 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 [[parallelism (grammar)|parallel]] to [[Clarke's three laws|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>}}

[[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 [[incentive]]s 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.<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, Baron Roberts of Belgravia|Andrew Roberts]], in [[Churchill: Walking with Destiny|his biography of Winston Churchill]], quotes from Churchill's correspondence with [[George VI|King George VI]] in February 1943 regarding disagreements with [[Charles de Gaulle]]: "His insolence&nbsp;... 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 ==
* {{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}}

[[Category:Adages]]
[[Category:Principles]]
[[Category:Razors (philosophy)]]
[[Category:Intention]]