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Yes, it is literal. Hanlon's razor is advice about what predictions you should make (or which hypotheses you should advocate, if you like). It says that when
by jholman 13y ago
Yes, it is literal.
Hanlon's razor is advice about what predictions you should make (or which hypotheses you should advocate, if you like). It says that when you don't know whether something is malice or stupidity, you should never predict/theorize the former.
- diminoten 13y agoIf the 'never' is literal, then it's attempting to establish a universal truth, and is entirely useless as that universal truth is incorrect. If it's not literal, then it's argumentative hyperbole and should be interpreted as "usually" or "most often". In this case the truth of the statement is intact and can be a useful guide. So either you're right and the saying is worthless, or I'm right and the saying retains useful meaning.
- dragonwriter 13y ago> If the 'never' is literal, then it's attempting to establish a universal truth No, its not. As a statement about predictions, its about likelihood. "Never assume malice when incompetence is plausible", even if taken literally, need not be an attempt to establish that it is universally true that when both are plausible, malice is always the correct prediction; it is a sufficient premise that there are no circumstances in which both explanatiosn are plausible where malice is more likely.
- diminoten 13y agoIF you CAN attribute something to stupidity, THEN YOU MUST. That's what it'd be saying if you took it literally. It's not a statement about prediction or tendency. It does NOT say "malice is plausible" it says "malice is IMPOSSIBLE, when you CAN attribute an act to stupidity."