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Hanlon's Razor


Hanlon's Razor: prov. 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."  The derivation of the
   common title Hanlon's Razor is unknown; a similar epigram has been
   attributed to William James.  Quoted here because it seems to be a
   particular favorite of hackers, often showing up in sig
   blocks, 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.