June 25, 2023 • 8 mins
Hanlon’s Razor is a mental model, often quoted as ‘Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect.’ And it is derived originally from something Napoleon Bonaparte famously declared in 1774: 'Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
For a full transcript of this episode please go to the official website https://www.filmproproductivity.com/
Show links:
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TWITTER: https://twitter.com/FilmProProdPod
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QUOTES:
I would add a clumsier but more accurate corollary to this: ‘Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system of interactions.’ People behaving with no central coordination and acting in their own best interest can still create results that appear to some to be clear proof of conspiracy or a plague of ignorance. Douglas Hubbard
Sources:
https://fs.blog/mental-model-hanlons-razor/#:~:text=Napoleon%20Bonaparte%20famously%20declared%3A,'
Thanks:
A Himitsu
Music By: Music by A Himitsu
Track: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsu
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE
Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8
Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsuhttps://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A
For a full transcript of this episode please go to the official website https://www.filmproproductivity.com/
Show links:
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.filmproproductivity.com/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/FilmProProdPod
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/filmproproductivity
CONTACT: https://www.filmproproductivity.com/contact
INDIE FILM HUSTLE: https://indiefilmhustle.com/ifh-podcast-network-filmmaking-and-screenwriting/
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqo0Zld2Lm2lJDpDh3GsuZg
QUOTES:
I would add a clumsier but more accurate corollary to this: ‘Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational individuals following incentives in a complex system of interactions.’ People behaving with no central coordination and acting in their own best interest can still create results that appear to some to be clear proof of conspiracy or a plague of ignorance. Douglas Hubbard
Sources:
https://fs.blog/mental-model-hanlons-razor/#:~:text=Napoleon%20Bonaparte%20famously%20declared%3A,'
Thanks:
A Himitsu
Music By: Music by A Himitsu
Track: Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.soundcloud.com/a-himitsu
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music released by Argofox https://www.youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE
Music provided by Audio Library https://www.youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8
Contact the artist: x.jonaz@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ahimitsuhttps://www.twitter.com/ahimitsu1
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFwu-j5-xNJml2FtTrrB3A
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Everybody just walking in front of it, like we're not recording. It happens
to be aware of people. Noneof it's intentional. Never attribute to malice.
We can be attribute to incompetence.It's far more likely that they're all
in their own worlds, doing theirown thing. They're not having attention to
the world around them. And weall do it every day, whether you're
driving, walking down the street.All of our lives are just as complex
as everybody else's. Everything you havegoing on, they have going on.
(00:22):
Nobody knows what everybody else is goingthrough. We also need to be a
little more self aware and aware ofthe world around us. Hello, and
welcome back to Film pro, Productivityand Success, the podcast that helps film
professionals and other creative people to livea more focused, effective, and hopefully
(00:44):
happy life. My name is CarterFerguson and this is episode one hundred and
thirty eight Malice or Incompetence. Sosome of you may recognize the pre title
that I played there. It's trendingon social media at the moment and I
absolutely love it. But did youknow that what this chap is talking about
(01:06):
here has a name in the productivityworld. It is a known thing,
and it is called Hanlin's razor,and it teaches us not to assume the
worst intention in the actions of others. Are you interested, then keep on
listening. This is a world ofever increasing outrage, driven on by an
(01:29):
ever more untrustworthy media and by scurlouspoliticians who attempt and very often, i'd
argue, succeed in manipulating us.And that's not me assuming the worst.
By the way, I'm fifty oneyears sold. Now that statement comes from
what I would refer to as patternrecognition, which I should probably do another
show, and maybe I will.We shall see. And the modern media
(01:49):
treats outrage as a profitable commodity.That's how I see it. Actually did
a show fairly early on called outragePorn, so look out for that one
if you're interested in this sort ofthing. And we see examples of this
play out in the media multiple timesa day, and people rush to take
offense these days at anything which contradictstheir worldview as victim. Mentality is bred
(02:12):
within us for profit, and inshort, media outlets are becoming increasingly skilled
at generating assumptions of malicious intent,and it's all too easy to fall into
this way of thinking, and asa result of all this manipulation, these
days especially, we have all gotthis tendency to assume that when something goes
(02:34):
wrong, the fault lies within somegreat conspiracy that's working against us. The
simple fact, though, is thatthe assumptions which we jump to are rarely
true. Understanding Handlon's razor Or helpsus to see the world in a more
positive light, to stop negative assumptions, and to improve relationships. Handlon's Razor
(02:59):
is a men until model, oftenquoted as never a tribute to malice that
which can be adequately explained by neglect, and that phrasing is derived from something
Napoleon Bonaparte famously declared in seventeen seventyfour. He said, never ascribed to
malice that which is adequately explained bystupidity. Gerte wrote something similar, however,
(03:22):
in seventeen seventy four. So I'lllet you decide which came first,
Gerta, and I've had help inthe pronunciation of that. Hopefully, how's
that? Petra? Is that better? But they's head also in seventeen seventy
four that misunderstandings and neglect create moreconfusion in this world. Than trickery and
malice at any rate, the lasttwo are certainly much less frequent unquote.
(03:46):
Either way, however, it allamounts the same thing that assuming the worst
intention in the actions of others isfar more often the case than assuming incompetence
or stupidity. Douglas Bard expanded uponthis idea in his book Whyet's Broken and
How to Fix It. He wrote, I would add a clumsier but more
accurate corollary to this, never attributeto malice or stupidity that which can be
(04:13):
explained by moderately rational individuals following incentivesin a complex system of interactions. Basically,
people behaving with no central coordination andacting in their own best interest can
still create results that appear to someto be clear proof of conspiracy or a
plague of ignorance unquote. So Hanlon'srazor is a valuable little tool to keep
(04:41):
in your arsenal that allows you tobetter develop relationships, become less judgmental,
and improves rationality. It allows youto give people the benefit of the doubt
and have more empathy. And inthis way the value of Hanlon's razor is
increased in relationships and in business matters. I'd warned, though in some of
up that Hanlon's razor can be overlysimplistic, potentially blinding us to genuine malice
(05:06):
when it occurs. While malicious intentis rarer than commonly assumed, it should
still be considered as actions seemingly dueto incompetence can of course actually be consciously
or subconsciously malicious. The Mafia servesa good example of disproving Handlon's razor.
Initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory,its existence became evident only when a member
(05:30):
contacted law enforcement, revealing the carefullyorchestrated malice behind it all. But to
effectively employ Handlon's razor, you needto incorporate it into your mental framework alongside
logical reasoning, personal experience, andempirical evidence. But always remain vigilant of
(05:53):
behaviors genuinely intended to cause harm,And that it all for today in this
Minnesota have successfully got one down aboutsix minutes. That's fantastic, and next
week's show should be more of thesame. In the sense of this sort
of length show, it's so hard, it's so time consuming to write a
(06:15):
short episode. To research a shortepisode, you've got to understand how much
more difficult it is to do this. But I am really really working on
it. I don't know which topicI'm going to do next week. I'm
trying this new format and I'm notsure what's going to work, but tune
in to find out more. Letme in today, though, with those
same words that started all this,Please take note of them, folks.
This little baby might change your outlook, lower your stress and anxiety levels,
(06:40):
and increase your chances of success.And that, of course, is what
this show is all about. That'slistened once again to these wise words from
some bloke in an interview on someTikTok video who was just walking in front
of it when I recording. Yeahaavans bewreable. None of it didn't engine
never attribute to mellis. We canin tribute to incompetence. It's far more
(07:02):
likely that they're all in their ownworlds doing their own thing. They're out
having attention to the world around them, and we all do it every day,
whether you're driving, walking down thestreet. All of our lives are
just as complex as everybody else's.Everything you have going on, they have
going on. Nobody knows what everybodyelse is going pro. We also need
to be a little more self awareand aware of the world around us.
And with that said, please takecontrol of your own destiny. Folks.
(07:26):
Keep on shooting, keep on working, keep on chipping away out there,
and join me next week on FilmPro Productivity and Success. The music that
you can hear right now is Adventuresby Ahumtso and you can view these show
notes for this episode the full shownotes only on the official website film pro
(07:48):
productivity dot com. You can alsofollow my personal accounts on Twitter and Instagram
at Fight Underscore Director, or followthe show itself on Twitter at film pro
prod Pod or on Facebook at filmpro Productivity. Please do continue to support
the show by subscribing, spreading theworld. Please do tell people about it
and leaving an awesome review. Seeyou next week
Everybody just walking in front of it, like we're not recording. It happens
to be aware of people. Noneof it's intentional. Never attribute to malice.
We can be attribute to incompetence.It's far more likely that they're all
in their own worlds, doing theirown thing. They're not having attention to
the world around them. And weall do it every day, whether you're
driving, walking down the street.All of our lives are just as complex
as everybody else's. Everything you havegoing on, they have going on.
(00:22):
Nobody knows what everybody else is goingthrough. We also need to be a
little more self aware and aware ofthe world around us. Hello, and
welcome back to Film pro, Productivityand Success, the podcast that helps film
professionals and other creative people to livea more focused, effective, and hopefully
(00:44):
happy life. My name is CarterFerguson and this is episode one hundred and
thirty eight Malice or Incompetence. Sosome of you may recognize the pre title
that I played there. It's trendingon social media at the moment and I
absolutely love it. But did youknow that what this chap is talking about
(01:06):
here has a name in the productivityworld. It is a known thing,
and it is called Hanlin's razor,and it teaches us not to assume the
worst intention in the actions of others. Are you interested, then keep on
listening. This is a world ofever increasing outrage, driven on by an
(01:29):
ever more untrustworthy media and by scurlouspoliticians who attempt and very often, i'd
argue, succeed in manipulating us.And that's not me assuming the worst.
By the way, I'm fifty oneyears sold. Now that statement comes from
what I would refer to as patternrecognition, which I should probably do another
show, and maybe I will.We shall see. And the modern media
(01:49):
treats outrage as a profitable commodity.That's how I see it. Actually did
a show fairly early on called outragePorn, so look out for that one
if you're interested in this sort ofthing. And we see examples of this
play out in the media multiple timesa day, and people rush to take
offense these days at anything which contradictstheir worldview as victim. Mentality is bred
(02:12):
within us for profit, and inshort, media outlets are becoming increasingly skilled
at generating assumptions of malicious intent,and it's all too easy to fall into
this way of thinking, and asa result of all this manipulation, these
days especially, we have all gotthis tendency to assume that when something goes
(02:34):
wrong, the fault lies within somegreat conspiracy that's working against us. The
simple fact, though, is thatthe assumptions which we jump to are rarely
true. Understanding Handlon's razor Or helpsus to see the world in a more
positive light, to stop negative assumptions, and to improve relationships. Handlon's Razor
(02:59):
is a men until model, oftenquoted as never a tribute to malice that
which can be adequately explained by neglect, and that phrasing is derived from something
Napoleon Bonaparte famously declared in seventeen seventyfour. He said, never ascribed to
malice that which is adequately explained bystupidity. Gerte wrote something similar, however,
(03:22):
in seventeen seventy four. So I'lllet you decide which came first,
Gerta, and I've had help inthe pronunciation of that. Hopefully, how's
that? Petra? Is that better? But they's head also in seventeen seventy
four that misunderstandings and neglect create moreconfusion in this world. Than trickery and
malice at any rate, the lasttwo are certainly much less frequent unquote.
(03:46):
Either way, however, it allamounts the same thing that assuming the worst
intention in the actions of others isfar more often the case than assuming incompetence
or stupidity. Douglas Bard expanded uponthis idea in his book Whyet's Broken and
How to Fix It. He wrote, I would add a clumsier but more
accurate corollary to this, never attributeto malice or stupidity that which can be
(04:13):
explained by moderately rational individuals following incentivesin a complex system of interactions. Basically,
people behaving with no central coordination andacting in their own best interest can
still create results that appear to someto be clear proof of conspiracy or a
plague of ignorance unquote. So Hanlon'srazor is a valuable little tool to keep
(04:41):
in your arsenal that allows you tobetter develop relationships, become less judgmental,
and improves rationality. It allows youto give people the benefit of the doubt
and have more empathy. And inthis way the value of Hanlon's razor is
increased in relationships and in business matters. I'd warned, though in some of
up that Hanlon's razor can be overlysimplistic, potentially blinding us to genuine malice
(05:06):
when it occurs. While malicious intentis rarer than commonly assumed, it should
still be considered as actions seemingly dueto incompetence can of course actually be consciously
or subconsciously malicious. The Mafia servesa good example of disproving Handlon's razor.
Initially dismissed as a conspiracy theory,its existence became evident only when a member
(05:30):
contacted law enforcement, revealing the carefullyorchestrated malice behind it all. But to
effectively employ Handlon's razor, you needto incorporate it into your mental framework alongside
logical reasoning, personal experience, andempirical evidence. But always remain vigilant of
(05:53):
behaviors genuinely intended to cause harm,And that it all for today in this
Minnesota have successfully got one down aboutsix minutes. That's fantastic, and next
week's show should be more of thesame. In the sense of this sort
of length show, it's so hard, it's so time consuming to write a
(06:15):
short episode. To research a shortepisode, you've got to understand how much
more difficult it is to do this. But I am really really working on
it. I don't know which topicI'm going to do next week. I'm
trying this new format and I'm notsure what's going to work, but tune
in to find out more. Letme in today, though, with those
same words that started all this,Please take note of them, folks.
This little baby might change your outlook, lower your stress and anxiety levels,
(06:40):
and increase your chances of success.And that, of course, is what
this show is all about. That'slistened once again to these wise words from
some bloke in an interview on someTikTok video who was just walking in front
of it when I recording. Yeahaavans bewreable. None of it didn't engine
never attribute to mellis. We canin tribute to incompetence. It's far more
(07:02):
likely that they're all in their ownworlds doing their own thing. They're out
having attention to the world around them, and we all do it every day,
whether you're driving, walking down thestreet. All of our lives are
just as complex as everybody else's.Everything you have going on, they have
going on. Nobody knows what everybodyelse is going pro. We also need
to be a little more self awareand aware of the world around us.
And with that said, please takecontrol of your own destiny. Folks.
(07:26):
Keep on shooting, keep on working, keep on chipping away out there,
and join me next week on FilmPro Productivity and Success. The music that
you can hear right now is Adventuresby Ahumtso and you can view these show
notes for this episode the full shownotes only on the official website film pro
(07:48):
productivity dot com. You can alsofollow my personal accounts on Twitter and Instagram
at Fight Underscore Director, or followthe show itself on Twitter at film pro
prod Pod or on Facebook at filmpro Productivity. Please do continue to support
the show by subscribing, spreading theworld. Please do tell people about it
and leaving an awesome review. Seeyou next week
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