Hanlon’s Razor: How to Shave Away Thoughts of Malice

I’m glad I had been studying a concept called Hanlon’s Razor prior to a recent haircut I received, otherwise I may have reacted quite differently!  My regular hairstylist was on vacation, so I got my hair cut by a lovely Cuban woman, let’s call her ‘Manuela’. Anyway, I sat down and told her what I wanted, and although her English isn’t that great, I could tell she understood.

She proceeded to grab some clippers and then went to town on my ‘do.

And when I say, ‘went to town’, I mean it! She was going so fast that I wondered if she was trying to break a world’s record for the fastest haircut in history!

“Jiminy Crickets!”, I said to myself.

Just as I was about to say something, I recalled Hanlon’s Razor. So, I kept my mouth shut and closed my eyes. I then told myself, “relax, worst-case scenario it will grow back”.

We will get back to ‘Manuela’ and what my haircut has to do with Hanlon’s Razor in a bit.

What is a Razor and What is Hanlon’s Razor?

A philosophical razor is simply a decision-making tool that you can use to help eliminate possibilities to get you to the possibility that is most likely. It’s kind of like a rule of thumb or shortcut that can help you make quick decisions more accurately.

As far as Hanlon’s Razor, it comes from Robert J. Hanlon of Pennsylvania who is quoted as saying, “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

In other words, when something goes wrong in life, instead of assuming someone is out to get you, give them the benefit of the doubt, as there is a greater chance that it is due to stupidity rather than malicious intent.

While in many cases that may be true…

Stupidity Might Be a Bit Harsh and Limiting…

So, let’s look at some others who have offered similar and slightly different thoughts over the years, such as:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a major German literary figure, who said:

“And I have again observed, my dear friend, in this trifling affair, that misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence.” ¹

Or another one which has been attributed to Napoleon:

 “Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.” ²

Finally, another from a columnist in the Wall Street Journal named Thomas Woodlock:

“In this world, much of what the victims believe to be malice is explicable on the ground of ignorance or incompetence, or a mixture of both. ³

So, what Hanlon attributed it to “stupidity”, Goethe attributed to “misunderstandings and neglect”, Napoleon to “incompetence”, and Woodlock to “ignorance or incompetence”.  You could also just chalk it up to the randomness of life.

The point is that rather than assuming someone acted out of malice, let’s expand Hanlon’s definition and say that the greater probability is that someone acted out of stupidity, misunderstandings and neglect, incompetence or ignorance.

Applying it to Everyday Scenarios

A few examples of Hanlon’s Razor that we can all relate to:

  You think some jerk who cut you off in traffic was trying to kill you.

Applying Hanlon’s Razor: perhaps he didn’t see you?

  The hamburger you ordered didn’t have cheese on it and you assume the waiter is trying to ruin your day.

Applying Hanlon’s Razor: perhaps someone in the kitchen forgot…or maybe you didn’t ask for it.

  Someone hasn’t responded to an email you sent a couple of days ago, you think they are being disrespectful or trying to get you fired.

Applying Hanlon’s Razor: perhaps your email went to their junk mail folder or perhaps their reply went to your junk mail folder. Or maybe they had a death in the family.

We could go on with examples all day, but you get the point. By applying Hanlon’s Razor we can improve our relationships and decrease our stress levels by giving others the benefit of the doubt and showing more empathy.

But What About Legitimate Malice?

Are there times when people have malicious intent? Of course, there is no doubt about it. So, while it is good to strive for empathy, we can’t be naïve either – which is one of the criticisms of Hanlon’s Razor.

There may be times when we think someone has done something due to incompetence, when in reality they do have malicious intent – either consciously or unconsciously.

With that being said, there will be times when we may not want to use Hanlon’s razor as the probability of someone acting maliciously is high. Or perhaps the cost of our assuming they did not act in malice is too high. On those occasions, we may be better off assuming malicious intent and only changing our mind once we have evidence to the contrary.

How to Apply It

As we have seen, there are many reasons as to why someone has done something other than stupidity or malice.

Therefore, by expanding Hanlon’s Razor to include things such as misunderstandings, neglect, incompetence, ignorance, or just the randomness of life we can use it in more situations to try and understand why people act in a certain way.

By assuming the worst, we often put ugly pictures in our own heads which leads to our getting angry and stressed out for nothing.

The idea is to start by assuming that whatever negative thing that happened was due to something other than malice.

We can make the most out of Hanlon’s Razor by putting the situation into context by using logic and experience to see if we can figure out the most likely explanation for an action.

The idea is to strive for empathy but remember not to be naïve!

As for Manuela…

I am glad I used Hanlon’s Razor and assumed that she wasn’t maliciously trying to mess up my ‘lid’! It turned out she just worked really fast and ended up giving me a really good 3-minute haircut.

After finishing my hair, she asked if I wanted her to do my eyebrows, which she ended up doing just as fast and just as flawlessly.

Seeing as she was two for two, I noticed a razor and some shaving gel nearby.

“Hmmm”, I wondered…”I wonder if she gives good, fast shaves too? On second thought, let me not tempt fate and stick with Hanlon’s Razor instead!”

Until next time, keep using Hanlon’s Razor and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

Use it Or Lose It – Hanlon’s Razor

When something goes wrong in life, instead of assuming someone is out to get you, give them the benefit of the doubt, as there is a greater chance that it is due to stupidity, misunderstandings and neglect, incompetence or ignorance rather than malicious intent.

When to Use It:

Use it when you are dealing with others.

What Do You Think?

Have you ever used Hanlon’s razor or something similar in your life? Do you have any other thoughts on Hanlon’s razor? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

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References

¹ 1854, Novels and Tales by Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Translated by R. D. Boylan, Start Page 247, Quote Page 248, Henry G. Bohn, London. (Google Books Full View) link  ↩

2 1997 November 23, Usenet discussion message, Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.advocacy, From: Roedy Green @BIX.com, Subject: Re: Microsoft cheats on Java Benchmark (was Sun cheats on Java Benchma. (Google Groups Search; Accessed December 30, 2016)

3 1937 December 22, Wall Street Journal, Thinking It Over by Thomas F. Woodlock, Quote Page 4, Column 5, New York. (ProQuest) ↩

4 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/12/30/not-malice/

https://effectiviology.com/hanlons-razor/