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> The old saying still holds true: one should not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence. To the contrary, my takeaway from
by carbocation 5y ago
> The old saying still holds true: one should not attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.
To the contrary, my takeaway from these events is a further erosion of the credibility of Hanlon's razor.
- edoceo 5y agothe razor holds IMO. because this isn't adequately explained by incompetence alone. the crafty/sneaky approach has some hints of malice.
- carbocation 5y agoThat is actually totally fair. But I will offer a quibble: having to focus on the "adequately" part makes the razor less interesting.
- admax88q 5y agoBut... it's there. Without the "adequately" its not Hanlon's razor, its random other razor that is probably less accurate.
- hderms 5y agoPeople jump to Hanlon's razor way too quickly. The mere knowledge that people are likely to brush off things as incompetence instead of malice is a potential tool in the hands of the malicious. Yes, all things being equal, it's better to err on the side of assuming someone didn't have malicious intent, but some people like to use it like a blunt instrument and the fact they do is dangerous in such a complex world. Additionally, it's incredibly biased in its application simply because only a good-natured person would be inclined to brush off malicious action as incompetence. Malicious actors would be unlikely to do the same.