Brain Food #716
Hanlon’s Razor
Thoughts of the day
Every Wednesday, I will be sharing a new cognitive bias or mental model that you can add to your thinking toolbox. Being aware of our biases can help us change perspectives, be better humans, and make wiser decisions. Last week, I wrote about the mere urgency effect, a form of cognitive bias that clouds our thinking about others.
Philosophical razors are thus called because they are used to eliminate (or ‘shave off’) unlikely explanations for a phenomenon, usually related to human behaviour. The term Hanlon’s Razor came to be due to the name of its creator, a computer programmer named Robert J. Hanlon. Its main premise, though the quote remains unattributed, is to “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”.
In simpler (and less harsh) terms, Hanlon’s Razor implies that when someone might be acting in a way that is seemingly affecting you negatively, that may not necessarily have anything to do with the way they feel about you. We might be quick to ascribe bad intent to a person’s actions, but often, it might just be the case that they didn’t know better. Not everyone is out to get us, especially considering how we are all insignificant in our own minuscule, significant ways.
Another interpretation could be that we overestimate people’s capabilities. We expect more from them than what they are able to do - this is, also, a form of optimism. But optimism, like our expectations, can lead to disappointment. Sometimes, it might be more liberating to accept that everyone is simply trying their best.
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