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“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” (or carelessness in this case)
by mplappert 2mo ago
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” (or carelessness in this case)
- cryptoz 2mo agoFWIW, I used to love this phrase but over recent years have come to understand it is quite damaging. We live in a society where evil frequently hides behind a ‘stupid’ label, and people bring this quote up to defend or soften actions that are indeed done out of specific malicious intent.
- 12_throw_away 2mo agoRight? "Never attribute to malice what [... etc]" is always just a thought-terminating cliche these days. TBH I have a hard time imagining how anyone, in the year 2026, thinks that we should default to assuming good intent behind words on the internet.
- pixl97 2mo agoIt's because we don't treat evil and stupidity the same when we should.
- rubyfan 2mo agoI would attribute it to profit motive instead of either stupidity or malice.
- yoyohello13 2mo agoYeah, I think this needs to be update for the modern age. "Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by greed." Seems to fit vastly more situations.
- overgard 2mo agoI'm fairly certain they're both malicious and stupid.