How to Apply Hanlon’s Razor to Gain Inner Peace

Occam’s Razor isn’t the only game in town

You have likely heard of Occam’s Razor:

“In explaining a thing, no more assumptions should be made than are necessary.”

This concept, also termed the law of parsimony, is commonly paraphrased as “The simplest explanation is the most likely one.” While this is not a law or a proof, it is a general preference or tendency. In science, a simpler idea is not necessarily more correct, but it is easier to test.

Occam is not the only person to have a razor named for them, nor is his the most useful one. Before we get to Hanlon, what exactly is a razor though? The term refers to the notion of shaving away the excess assumptions that a given hypothesis might have. This helps one pick between one explanation and a competing one. It is a preference, not a proof.

Another way to consider a razor is that it is a particular type of heuristic, or rule of thumb. In life, you will find Hanlon’s Razor to be of much more use. The concept is:

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.”

Think about what this actually means. When someone treats you poorly, you have to make a judgment about their behavior. Did they intentionally want to inflict harm? Or did they cause you harm inadvertently?

Often, you just don’t know and won’t ever know. You have to go with your gut. If the harm was big enough, you will likely be angry and attribute the person’s behavior to malice.

Don’t.

Unless you have solid proof, the other person is likely completely unaware of the negative effects their actions have had on you. Your anger serves no purpose.

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.” — Buddha.

I remember times when such anger would rise up in me. It was often in situations outside of my control but with long-term effects on my life. In particular, I remember applying to graduate schools after college. I had spent years studying, taking tests, and filling out applications. I sent off my applications and the waiting began. While I heard back quickly from some programs, others were radio silent. When I inquired, the programs would tell me to check back in a few weeks.

Only several months later did my college inform me that a secretary had quit, leaving a stack of our applications on her desk! I was furious!

But what good was my anger? I couldn’t ask for compensation from the secretary, who was long gone. I could not make the college go back in time and fix things. I could not ask the programs to accept me past the deadline everyone else had followed. It was unfair, but such is life.

Had I known Hanlon’s razor at the time, I would have been better served. I would have viewed it for the incompetence that it was, rather than viewing it as a conspiracy against me in particular. I would have focused more on what to do in the future to follow up on my applications. Even if the secretary had sent it out, it could easily have gotten lost in the mail or misplaced in the receiving program’s office. Instead of venting about malice that did not exist, I could focus on fixing the incompetence that did.

On the other hand, let’s say I went looking for a fight. I could have accused the dean of the college of intentionally undermining me and other students in the situation. I could have threatened legal action against the programs. I could have written angry letters to the school paper.

But to what end? None of that would have gotten me any closer to my original goal: getting into an excellent graduate program. Plus, I would have turned my potential supporters into true enemies, by falsely accusing them of ill will that they did not actually harbor beforehand.

What can one do about malice in the world anyway? True evil is a very tough problem to tackle. Incompetence though is much easier to fix (although not truly easy). This realization gives me inner peace. Instead of pitying myself, I can accept people as they are, flaws and all. My responsibility is not to fight their malice (which doesn’t exist) but rather to be a more competent version of myself.

Viewing the world through the lens of Hanlon’s razor gives me hope. If something goes wrong, it is on me to figure out the cause and fix it.

Thanks for reading! Follow me on Medium and Twitter @JayVillas2020 for more reflections.