The World Is Not Out to Get You

Hanlon’s razor: never ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity.

Hanlon’s razor: never ascribe to malice what can be explained by stupidity.

Pic by @timothyeberly

A fisherman is enjoying himself on a river at dusk. He sees another boat coming toward him. He feels glad that someone else is enjoying the calm summer evening.

The man realizes that the boat is coming right toward him, faster and faster. He begins to get upset. “Hey, watch out! Turn aside!” — He yells. But the other boat smashes right into him anyway.

The fisherman is furious. He starts yelling louder and louder. Until he realizes there’s no one inside. The man was bumped by an empty boat.

Our lives are full of boats adrift. Jealous coworkers, insane drivers, or loud neighbors — we think the world is out to get us. We assume that there’s some conspiracy against us.

The problem is that we are inherently egocentric — we take everything personally. Like this classic Zen story shows, we often misjudge people’s intentions. And assume everyone wants to harm us.

This is where Hanlon’s razor comes in. …