Hanlon's razor
Hanlon's Razor is an eponymous adage that reads:
Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
This particular form is attributed to a Robert J. Hanlon. However, earlier utterances that convey basically the same idea are known.
Contents |
[edit] Origins and similar quotations
The quotation first came from Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, Pennsylvania, according to his friend Joseph Bigler, as a submission for a book compilation of various jokes related to Murphy's law published in 1980 titled Murphy's Law Book Two, More Reasons Why Things Go Wrong.[1] The name was inspired by Occam's razor.[2]
A similar quotation appears in Robert A. Heinlein's 1941 short story "Logic of Empire" ("You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity"); this was noticed in 1996 (five years before Bigler identified the Robert J. Hanlon citation) and first referenced in version 4.0.0 of the Jargon File,[3] with speculation that Hanlon's Razor might be a corruption of "Heinlein's Razor". "Heinlein's Razor" has since been defined as variations on Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice.[4] Yet another similar epigram ("Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence") has been widely attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte.[5] Another similar quote appears in Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774): "...misunderstandings and neglect create more confusion in this world than trickery and malice. At any rate, the last two are certainly much less frequent."
A common (and more laconic) British English variation, coined by Sir Bernard Ingham, is the saying "cock-up before conspiracy", deriving from this quotation:
Many journalists have fallen for the conspiracy theory of government. I do assure you that they would produce more accurate work if they adhered to the cock-up theory.—Sir Bernard Ingham[6]
[edit] See also
- Clarke's three laws
- Finagle's law
- Occam's razor
- Sturgeon's Law
- List of eponymous laws
- Razor (philosophy)
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Robert J. Hanlon |
[edit] References
- ^ In an e-mail to Quentin Stafford-Fraser, Joseph E. Bigler wrote that Robert J. Hanlon was a real person and did indeed invent this quotation. This is followed up by a later note that refers to Murphy's Law Book Two, Wrong Reasons Why Things Go More (ISBN 0-417-06450-0); not to be confused with Murphy's Law #2 (ISBN 0-8431-0674-3). The publisher of these books, Price Stern Sloan, was acquired by Putnam Berkley Group (Penguin Group (USA) History) in 1993.
- ^ Giancarlo Livraghi, Il potere della stupidità, Monti & Ambrosini, Pescara, Italy, 2004, p. 1
- ^ http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon-upd.lst[dead link]
- ^ This quotation is attributed to Albert Einstein in Peter Singer's 2009 book "Wired for War" (ISBN 1594201986) on pg. 434
- ^ "Napoleon I on Incompetence - Quotation - MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwqT8DBL.
- ^ Galvin, Nick (September 1 2009). "Case of a misplaced point". Brisbane Times. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/digital-life/case-of-a-misplaced-point-20090901-f5zj.html. Retrieved 11 January 2010.
