We’ve all been in situations where we honestly wonder whether someone is just trying to annoy us. We can’t always know what someone was thinking or trying to accomplish. Today we’re discussing Hanlon’s Razor and how this adage can help us navigate relationships, communication, and move through the world with less paranoia and more peace of mind.
Hanlon’s Razor says, “Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to neglect or inability.” Napoleon Bonaparte famously declared the same sentiment, “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” Instead of assuming everyone has evil intentions to sabotage you, remind yourself it’s much more likely they overlooked something or were unable to do something properly. Your coworker probably isn’t trying to create more work for you; they just neglected to make a decision. This is simple truth is helpful to remember, especially when dealing with unfamiliar people or situations. Most people are not trying to be mean; most people aren’t simply being rude because they can. More often, they’ve simply overlooked something.
Hanlon’s razor is a “philosophical razor,” which is used to help shave uncertainty from a situation with many potential interpretations or causes. These rules of thumb remind us of what is most likely true of a situation, allowing us to keep emotions in check, make sense of a situation, and respond reasonably. Hanlon’s Razor, specifically, can move us from an angry, myopic view of the world, towards a perspective which acknowledges the failures or foul moods of other people most often have nothing to do with you. Far from malice, neglect is more often the culprit. Your coworker neglected to double-check a report; they didn’t deliberately give you wrong numbers to make you look bad. Your cousin neglected to check the flight number; they didn’t miss picking you up from the airport on purpose. Someone neglected to do all aspects of their job well; they aren’t out to make your life more difficult.
The Basics
Just as Hanlon’s Razor* itself is a basic rule of thumb, the adage reminds us not to skip past the basics in a rush to judgment. On an episode of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, philosopher and writer Alain de Botton made the excellent observation that we tend to think of all the intellectual reasons someone might want to slight us or be difficult, but in doing so we rush past the simplest and most probable explanations. We should stop short of attributing errors to malice, and instead run through some basic questions; for example, “Has this person eaten? Is someone else bothering them? Have they gotten enough sleep?”
It’s a rather basic idea, but the basics are what enable us to move further forward. It’s difficult to care about delicate wording or think through potential misreadings or misinterpretations when your stomach is growling or you don’t have enough information, or are otherwise unable to perform well. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs states that our most basic needs like, food, water, sleep, shelter, and safety must be met in order for less rudimentary needs, like thinking clearly, creativity, and working at your full potential, to be possible. We’ve all experienced our own impatience when we are overly hungry**, or we’ve responded gruffly when stressed by too many decisions being demanded of us at one time. We know we aren’t intending to ruin anyone’s day or week; we just aren’t at our best and aren’t covering the basics. So it is for most people, most of the time.
The other side of Hanlon’s Razor is inability. The foreign tourist isn’t mixing up his nouns and verbs on purpose, he just isn’t familiar enough with the language to speak more fluently. Your new employee isn’t trying to annoy you, she just doesn’t know your processes. They are doing the best they can with insufficient preparations, unable to do better at that moment.
“It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than ‘Try to be a little kinder.'”
– Aldous Huxley
In the Media
The two most common usages of Hanlon’s Razor are by the media and in our relationships. We’ll look at each in turn. In the modern media landscape, outrage sells. Today’s headlines would have you believe everyone is brazenly sabotaging someone else’s career; that this person is deliberately trying to lose money for their boss or some other malicious plan. These stories are framed as intentional slights, but can often be explained by simple neglect or short-comings. We are drawn to conflict; it explains the popularity of reality shows, it’s why a crowd always gathers when a fight breaks out, and it’s at the heart of every enduring myth or story – from The Odyssey to Star Wars to Friends. Conflict commands attention. Hanlon’s Razor reminds us that when it comes to the media, most of this conflict is manufactured and built on miscommunication. Most people simply are not out to ruin anyone’s day, career, or life.
It would also serve us well to remember the media – including news – are a business, whose business model depends on getting millions of people to read or watch their stories. Conflict is created to boost those numbers. Ryan Holiday’s Trust Me I’m Lying is a book-length rundown of the tactics businesses and news outlets both employ to get people to pay attention. Unsurprisingly, the majority of them involve some sort of trumped-up conflict, usually explained by innocuous causes.
Relationships
Finally, this mental razor is most helpful in our relationships. Your partner is probably not actually trying to annoy you by leaving the cap off the toothpaste – they likely just neglected to put it back in its place. Your brother likely didn’t mean to ignore your phone call; he just let his phone die and therefore missed your call. Did your roommate not sleep well the previous night? That might explain their foul mood today.
This is especially common online or via text messaging. There is no room in a text or comment for subtle context clues, like sarcasm. Sentences and meanings get misinterpreted, people assume the other person is intending to be a jerk or insulting and reacts accordingly, then the other person reacts to the over-reaction.
Hanlon’s Razor reminds us to consider the very basic, common needs we all have, and to take a moment to consider the human realities you’re dealing with. That person’s slight mistake or misstep is most likely not intentional, but a result of something benign. Taking the time to consider the most probable explanation can mean the difference between diffusing a problem and making it much worse. It’s the difference between a “We’ll do it live!” meltdown and understanding that technology fails from time to time and your entire crew is working to fix the problem. Take a moment to consider the possibilities. You’ll never wish you had acted more foolishly in response to a problem.
To be clear, Hanlon’s Razor doesn’t dismiss the fact that jerks exist. Nor am I saying we shouldn’t pay attention to actions which may be intended to harm us. We should use this framework to understand that something not going our way doesn’t necessarily mean someone is conspiring against us. Most people, however, are not trying to be jerks, and therefore it’s more likely they simply forgot something or made an error. It doesn’t mean they are out to get you.
Footnotes:
*The term Hanlon’s Razor was coined in 1980 by Robert J. Hanlon. This idea has been circulating since at least since 1774, though.
**The inverse is also true; if you feel yourself becoming annoyed or short in your responses, ask yourself when was the last time you ate, or whether you’ve had any water to drink. You may prevent tensions or conflict from even forming.
