Hanlon's Razor states:

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
That's cute, but aren't we all just a little quick to assume either explanation? Nobody trusts anybody else's judgment any more. I propose Scott's Razor:
Never attribute to malice or stupidity that which might be explained by a perfectly good reason that you aren't aware of.


Six Replies to Scott's Razor

Jackie Mason | October 6, 2009
[hidden by author request]

Tony Peters | October 6, 2009
I've seen way too much stupidity (even my own) not to assume stupidity most of the time

Steve West | October 6, 2009
My personal hero, Shakespeare, sums it up so well with the oft-quoted, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." Things are rarely just black or white and mutually exclusive.

Steve Dunn | October 7, 2009
OK wow, I thought TC had been slow for a long time and now I see everyone's hanging out in this green part of the site.

Scott Hardie | October 7, 2009
TC is for talking about things other than Rock Block and the goo game?

Aaron Shurtleff | October 7, 2009
Wait, there's things other than Rock Block and Goo Game??


Logical Operator

The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »

Scott's Pet Peeve #8431

Random strangers on Facebook are not exactly known for impressive displays of intellect, but with several of my friends in the hospital recently, I've been annoyed by one particular bad habit that their friends seem to have: 1) Someone posts that s/he is experiencing a certain medical problem and is going into the hospital. Friends reply with supportive words. 2) A few hours later, the OP posts an update describing what the doctors are doing. Go »

Trekkers Will Understand

The Netflix summary of Deep Space Nine (Season Two): "Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) heads the crew of Deep Space Nine -- including Odo (Rene Auberjonois), Worf (Michael Dom), Dax (Terry Farrell) and others -- as it travels through space, trying to keep both the ship and the areas it travels safe, secure and free. One of the first (and greatest) challenges the intrepid voyagers face is the violence of the Dominion, a group composed partially of the shape-shifting Changelings." Gee, I wonder why fans call this the most misunderstood of all Star Trek series. Go »

The Dragon

This is the first of four weekly blog posts about diagnoses that have completely changed my life since the pandemic started. Let's get the gravest one out of the way first. Until recently, I never appreciated how essential the future was to your mental health. Go »

Members of an Elite Squad

When I started watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit a year ago (!!), I predicted that I would never write about its good episodes because it was a mediocre series. Along the way, it turned out to have plenty of mediocre hours and some lousy ones, but it had a lot more good or even great hours than I expected. Go »

Neighborhood Botch

I've heard that riding in the front seat of an Uber signals that you want to chat with the driver, and riding in the back seat means that you prefer silence. I always sit in the back. But when I went to catch a ride from my house the other night, there was stuff in the van's back seat, so the front was the only option. Go »

Parting Thought

I read in the news today that a British businessman will get to visit space in 2009 on his frequent-flyer miles alone. (link) I bet this gives David Phillips a damn good idea. (link) Go »