Hanlon's razor: how to stop seeing evil intent in everything

I have two small children. And already, probably, a thousand times I faced the same situation. It seems that everything has been cleaned, the house is clean. I sit down to drink tea and enjoy the rest. And half an hour later I go into the nursery and see the painted floor and wall, and they give me a postcard.

Usually at this moment my eye starts to twitch and I want to say: “Are you kidding me?” But it lets me go as soon as I remember that they are not on purpose. I pick up the postcard, take rags for myself and the artists - and the cleaning continues.

What is Hanlon's razor and what does it have to do with it

A razor in philosophy is a rule that allows you to cut off unlikely theses. Hanlon's razor states: "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity or ignorance." This means that people are much more likely to make mistakes or not think at all than to build insidious plans against you.

And it works not only with human relationships, but also helps to filter the terrible

conspiracy theoriesthat are being shared on social media.

Hanlon's razor for the first time appeared Arthur Bloch's Murphy's Laws. Book 2: New Reasons for Everything Going Wrong,” published in 1980. Prior to this, the editors asked readers to send in their own "laws of meanness", and programmer Robert Hanlon shared one of these.

But the idea itself is much older. For example, an early version of this proverb appears in the 1774 novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, where Goethe wrote:

But in the 1898 book "The Royal Academy: Its Uses and Abuses" by William James Laidley Can find this phrase: “People, by their actions, harm others, this is serious. But in fact, I think that most do it without any malicious intent, but rather out of stupidity. However, the result is the same."

Robert A. Heinlein also mentioned this concept in his 1941 short story The Logic of Empire, published in his collection Past Through Tomorrow. There, one character says to another:

Well, one cannot help but recall Bernard Ingham, who worked as Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary when she was Prime Minister of Great Britain. Ingham reportedly said the following: “Many journalists have fallen for the government conspiracy theory. I assure you that they could guess more accurately if they adhered to the theory of failure.

There are a lot of such examples, so the idea is not new and very fair.

Why Know About Hanlon's Razor

Our brains process a lot of information non-stop. It's hard enough, so he creates templates for yourself to do something automatically. Because of this, we unconsciously tend to simplify and label everything. And Hanllon's razor helps. wincognitive distortions.

Curse of Knowledge

The curse of knowledge is a cognitive bias that causes people to ignore the fact that others don't know the same things they do. That is, it can be difficult for a doctor to explain something to a friend, because he will speak his own language and not think that the interlocutor has a different background and does not have such knowledge.

Fundamental attribution error

Fundamental attribution error is a cognitive bias that causes people to underestimate the influence of environmental situational factors and overestimate the influence of personality traits. For example, you think that because a stranger looks angry, he must be an angry and unfriendly person in general. And in the morning he was doused with a car from a puddle, so the mood deteriorated.

Availability Heuristic

The availability heuristic is a cognitive bias that causes us to draw conclusions based on the first thing that comes to mind. For example, about plane crash TV talk more often than accidents. Therefore, it seems to many that the planes are unsafe, but everything is in order with the cars.

Gap of empathy

An empathy gap is a cognitive bias that causes people to underestimate how their condition affects decision making and the ability to empathize. For example, when we get angry, we don't realize how a calm person would act.

How to use Hanlon's razor in everyday life

If you use Hanlon's razor, your life will be easier. You become a more understanding, reasonable person with whom it is easier to build relationships.

Do not think that all the actions of people are connected with you.

It often seems to us that we are the main characters, and everything else in our life seems to be built around us. But the truth is that the behavior of others often has little to do with us, because they have their own history with their central character. Hanlon's Razor reminds us how important it is to keep perspective and understand that people are not extras in our lives, they have their own motives and interests.

Accept the good intentions of others

Remember that people, as a rule, do not seek to anger or offend you. Consider alternative explanations for behavior before jumping to conclusions. Others may get tired, get distracted, be busy, or simply not understand what you expect from them.

Filter information from media

The media use malice to create a sensation and attract an audience. Even when something can be explained by incompetence or ignorance. Use Hanlon's Razor to filter and better analyze news.

Don't discount the desire to harm you

Unfortunately, sometimes others act one way or another to intentionally do something bad to specific people. Even if they attribute it to some circumstances.