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by gorzynsk 2107 days ago
Hanlon's razor is an aphorism, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
5 comments

“Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice.” - Grey's law
"Never attribute to stupidity that which can be adequately explained by systemic incentives promoting malice."

-- Yours Truly's Razor ;) (though I still prefer "Hanlon's Handgun")

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21691718

I've quoted that before, but never heard it called "Grey's law". Who is Grey?
Is there a law yet that describes how, for any situation, someone's created a law that applies to it?

(tongue-in-cheek...I just feel like every day there's a new law I learn that applies perfectly to a situation. I can't keep track of them all!)

Eh... you never lived in a corrupt state, have you?

"Never attribute stupidity what can be explain as sheer corruption, aka malice"

That thin concrete that doesn't meet requirements, was put there not b/c of stupidity, but because someone lined up their pockets down the line, and the quality assurance people were paid to look the other way.

Mafia 101

Hanlon’s razor is obviously nonsensical. Malice is fundamentally stupid and obstinate stupidity rises to the level of malice so the distinction makes no difference.
"Never attribute to stupidity that which is adequately explained by greed" - an alternative formulation of the law of parsimony (aka Occam's razor)
Hanlon's razor is a boundary condition. Over time strategies improve, including malicious ones.