
How to Not Attribute to Malice Things Adequately Explained by Stupidity - kiyanwang
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-not-attribute-to-malice-things-adequately-explained-by-stupidity-5n393uh5
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stennie
It can definitely be a challenge to be self-aware of cognitive biases, but my
personal variation of Hanlon's razor would be closer to "Never attribute to
malice that which is adequately explained by extrinsic motivation". The
article has a longer version attributed to Douglas W Hubbard: _Never attribute
to malice or stupidity that which can be explained by moderately rational
individuals following incentives in a complex system of interactions._.

An outcome may be interpreted as stupidity, but I've seen otherwise smart
individuals make poor decisions because of extrinsic motivation like meeting
the expectations of their manager in order to succeed at (or maintain) their
job, aiming for personal incentives, or avoiding consequences. If the
extrinsic motivation is not (or cannot be) shared, actions or goals may appear
to be irrational (or stupid).

