Hanlon's Fig Leaf
Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. Despite its rise to popular prominence by way of a joke book , the concept of Hanlon's Razor has won credibility among many very serious people. No doubt, some who cite it with reverence believe the maxim to be coined by a respected philosophical thinker and not, as the case seems to be, some rando from Scranton. The adage as made popular in the early days of the internet goes like this: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. The base notion holds some truthiness, no doubt. Winston Churchill once made a similar comment regarding the disposition of Charles De Gaulle. Then again, Churchill was a famous quipster, and no doubt intended the observation as such. My case against Hanlon's Razor isn't against a wry quip about human nature. After all, anything funny is most likely true. Rather, my issue is with the way an easy jibe has been elevated to a heuristic in absolute t...