The summer's presidential politics have been ripe for conspiracism: the Democratic candidate switcheroo, the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life, the rise (and fall) of Project 2025, the late-breaking veepstakes. It's tempting to understand each of these plot developments as manifestations of an elite cabal's sinister game of 5D chess. We've never needed Hanlon's razor more.
Hanlon's razor reminds us not to attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. The namesake of the adage—a Robert Hanlon from President Joe Biden's beloved Scranton—offers little context for interpreting the phrase; it appeared as a stand-alone in a 1980 book of clever sayings. Later, it was picked up by early Usenet boards and often invoked to reject various conspiracy theories.
