4 ms·

Probably because it assumes it's more likely that this is the result of an ingenious, diabolical plan as opposed to incompetence.

by cerved 9y ago

stagbeetle 9y ago
The greatest trick the devil ever played, was to convince everyone he was stupid. The second part of Hanlon's Razor, was to not rule out malice.
- chris_wot 9y ago
  I must be missing the irony somewhere, but I wasn't aware of a second part to Hanlon's Razor.
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    There's no irony. It's often given in that form.
    - chris_wot 9y ago
      The "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" makes that rather odd.
      - emodendroket 9y ago
        I suppose, but a little more nuance is welcome. The CJR ran a piece about Seymour Hersh, but I think a lot of the things they had to say about Hanlon's Razor and similar aphorisms are thoughtful and relevant to this discussion: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/seymour_hersh_osama_bin_laden.php https://www.cjr.org/analysis/seymour_hersh_osama_bin_laden.p... > No phrase has been bandied about more than “conspiracy theory” in describing Hersh’s reporting. Critics argue that he’s accusing “hundreds of people across three governments of staging a massive international hoax that has gone on for years.” How could that be possible? > [...] > [I]t is extraordinarily naive to think the government is incapable of keeping a large secret involving dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. I am reminded of this passage from the memoirs of Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who knows a thing or two about how government secrecy works. Not only is the idea that you can’t keep secrets in Washington “flatly false,” Ellsberg writes, but by repeating it you’re doing the government’s work for them. >> [Such sayings] are in fact cover stories, ways of flattering and misleading journalists and their readers, part of the process of keeping secrets well. Of course eventually many secrets do get out that wouldn’t in a fully totalitarian society. But the fact is that the overwhelming majority of secrets do not leak to the American public … The reality unknown to the public and to most members of Congress and the press is that secrets that would be of the greatest import to many of them can be kept from them reliably for decades by the executive branch, even though they are known to thousands of insiders. > [...] > The old adage that “three people can only keep a secret if two are dead” is a fantasy, and journalists should stop mindlessly repeating it.
emodendroket 9y ago
"Ingenious" is laying it on a little thick, don't you think?

Probably because it assumes it's more likely that this is the result of an ingenious, diabolical plan as opposed to incompetence.

by cerved 9y ago

Probably because it assumes it's more likely that this is the result of an ingenious, diabolical plan as opposed to incompetence.

stagbeetle 9y ago

The greatest trick the devil ever played, was to convince everyone he was stupid. The second part of Hanlon's Razor, was to not rule out malice.

chris_wot 9y ago
I must be missing the irony somewhere, but I wasn't aware of a second part to Hanlon's Razor.
- emodendroket 9y ago
  There's no irony. It's often given in that form.
  - chris_wot 9y ago
    The "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" makes that rather odd.
    - emodendroket 9y ago
      I suppose, but a little more nuance is welcome. The CJR ran a piece about Seymour Hersh, but I think a lot of the things they had to say about Hanlon's Razor and similar aphorisms are thoughtful and relevant to this discussion: https://www.cjr.org/analysis/seymour_hersh_osama_bin_laden.php https://www.cjr.org/analysis/seymour_hersh_osama_bin_laden.p... > No phrase has been bandied about more than “conspiracy theory” in describing Hersh’s reporting. Critics argue that he’s accusing “hundreds of people across three governments of staging a massive international hoax that has gone on for years.” How could that be possible? > [...] > [I]t is extraordinarily naive to think the government is incapable of keeping a large secret involving dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. I am reminded of this passage from the memoirs of Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who knows a thing or two about how government secrecy works. Not only is the idea that you can’t keep secrets in Washington “flatly false,” Ellsberg writes, but by repeating it you’re doing the government’s work for them. >> [Such sayings] are in fact cover stories, ways of flattering and misleading journalists and their readers, part of the process of keeping secrets well. Of course eventually many secrets do get out that wouldn’t in a fully totalitarian society. But the fact is that the overwhelming majority of secrets do not leak to the American public … The reality unknown to the public and to most members of Congress and the press is that secrets that would be of the greatest import to many of them can be kept from them reliably for decades by the executive branch, even though they are known to thousands of insiders. > [...] > The old adage that “three people can only keep a secret if two are dead” is a fantasy, and journalists should stop mindlessly repeating it.

emodendroket 9y ago

"Ingenious" is laying it on a little thick, don't you think?