Here's One That I Really, Fucking Hate

It’s commonly used by people who see themselves as above the riff raff, too erudite to engage in such trivialities. It’s Hanlons’ Razor:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

I have had this repeated to me on several occasions when I bring up a “conspiracy theory” that, as often happens, becomes factual reporting months later. Here’s the problem with Hanlon’s Razor and I’m not sure who originally pointed this out. It may have been James Forrestal, the man who oversaw the transition of the Departments of War and Navy into a comprehensive Department of Defense AND, is believed to have been assassinated (See what I did there?).

Anyway, if you are a proponent of Hanlon’s Razor, one who says, for example, that State employees, elites, whomever, are just stupid; wouldn’t they at least bungle their way into doing something that improves our lives and increases our liberties at least once in a while? Or how about just once?! This ludicrous axiom that pseudo-intellectuals toss in your direction like a Dickens villain flinging a farthing at an orphan needs to be jettisoned from conversation. It doesn’t make you sound intelligent; it doesn’t raise you above the average muzhik, more often than not you sound like someone who is more worried about their reputation than truth. Stop it already!