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> Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity, and all that. that only applies when you have a flat prior. stupidity should b

by exe34 2y ago

> Never attribute to malice that which can adequately be explained by stupidity, and all that. that only applies when you have a flat prior. stupidity should be random - one action moves the needle one way, another action moves it back and you have an average of zero. when every action moves the needle the same way and somebody benefits from it, there's something going on.

ModernMech 2y ago
I wish people would apply Hanlon's razor more critically. Because the way people apply it allows evil people to act dumb and get away with it all the time. Guess what: evil people don't come out and say "I'm evil!" They don't wear super villain costumes, and they don't look like evil monsters. They look like everyone else, and they say all the right things like everyone else. Evil people rely on plausible deniability and Hanlon's razor to get away with their deeds. At every turn they are called out, they will say "I didn't mean to, I'm really a good person honestly! You're overreacting! I was just joking!" At some point you have to put on your critical thinking skills and stop allowing people to lie to you.
- exe34 2y ago
  > Guess what: evil people don't come out and say "I'm evil!" They don't wear super villain costumes, and they don't look like evil monsters. sometimes they just do a Nazi salute in front of the world's cameras and people rush to their defence.
- rsynnott 2y ago
  Oh, to be clear (I was the Hanlon’s Razor invoker), I would consider Trump to be, well, evil, but in the amoral monster sense rather than the evil mastermind sense. He is a _profoundly_ bad person, but my view would be that it’s down to a failure to see people as people, rather than an active plan to hurt people (Some of his sponsors/handlers, of course, are type 2 evil, but if nothing else, Trump lacks the _visionary_ aspect that’s required for that.) If he thought it would benefit him, or if the right people whispered in his ear, he’d be a faux-humanitarian; he simply _doesn’t care_ (and, likely, doesn’t really understand the difference.)

by exe34 2y ago

ModernMech 2y ago

I wish people would apply Hanlon's razor more critically. Because the way people apply it allows evil people to act dumb and get away with it all the time. Guess what: evil people don't come out and say "I'm evil!" They don't wear super villain costumes, and they don't look like evil monsters. They look like everyone else, and they say all the right things like everyone else. Evil people rely on plausible deniability and Hanlon's razor to get away with their deeds. At every turn they are called out, they will say "I didn't mean to, I'm really a good person honestly! You're overreacting! I was just joking!" At some point you have to put on your critical thinking skills and stop allowing people to lie to you.

exe34 2y ago
> Guess what: evil people don't come out and say "I'm evil!" They don't wear super villain costumes, and they don't look like evil monsters. sometimes they just do a Nazi salute in front of the world's cameras and people rush to their defence.
rsynnott 2y ago
Oh, to be clear (I was the Hanlon’s Razor invoker), I would consider Trump to be, well, evil, but in the amoral monster sense rather than the evil mastermind sense. He is a _profoundly_ bad person, but my view would be that it’s down to a failure to see people as people, rather than an active plan to hurt people (Some of his sponsors/handlers, of course, are type 2 evil, but if nothing else, Trump lacks the _visionary_ aspect that’s required for that.) If he thought it would benefit him, or if the right people whispered in his ear, he’d be a faux-humanitarian; he simply _doesn’t care_ (and, likely, doesn’t really understand the difference.)