A corollary of {Finagle's Law}, similar to Occam's Razor, that reads
"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by
stupidity." Quoted here because it seems to be a particular favorite
of hackers, often showing up in {sig block}s, {fortune cookie} files
and the login banners of BBS systems and commercial networks. This
probably reflects the hacker's daily experience of environments
created by well-intentioned but short-sighted people. Compare
{Sturgeon's Law}, {Ninety-Ninety Rule}.
At http://www.statusq.org/2001/11/26.html it is claimed that Hanlon's
Razor was coined by one Robert J. Hanlon of Scranton, PA. However, a
curiously similar remark ("You have attributed conditions to villainy
that simply result from stupidity.") appears in Logic of Empire, a
classic 1941 SF story by Robert A. Heinlein, who calls the error it
indicates the `devil theory' of sociology. Similar epigrams have been
attributed to William James and (on dubious evidence) Napoleon
Bonaparte.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {Finagle's Law}{Sturgeon's Law}]