Vicki and Jonathan’s razor

[Here’s an extract from The Momentum Mindset, the book I’ve co-authored with Vicki Main…]

Hanlon’s razor, attributed to computer programmer Roger J. Hanlon, states:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

It’s a fun philosophical approach, which can be useful to defuse problematic situations, but we prefer to approach life with a little more compassion, so we’ve edited it to provide a rule of thumb to follow when on your path to escape velocity:

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by an innocent mistake, or someone dealing with their own sh*t.

We like to work from the base assumption that people generally aren’t out to get you, or to make your life difficult. If they happen to cause you problems, it’s much more positive to assume that they did so either through an error on their part, or because they have something going on in their own lives that has caused them to behave in a way you perceive to be as bad. Please, cut your fellow humans some slack. Offer them help if you think they need it. And if they persist in making life difficult for you, then you can take a harder stance if you want. 

[Buy the book here: https://www.govlm.com/product/the-momentum-mindset/]