Ponnuru's Corollary to Hanlon's Razor, by Bryan Caplan

"Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity" is technically known as Hanlon's Razor.  Ramesh Ponnuru's proposes a novel corollary:
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by
stupidity. This sound aphorism may have a less pithy political
corollary: Never attribute to strategy what can be explained by emotion.
I suspect economists and evolutionary psychologists with demur, but this rings true.  Our modern environment is so unlike our adaptive environment that acting on impulse is usually folly.

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Published on January 25, 2016 17:24
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