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0 pointsvisakanv9y ago0 comments

I think a lot about the inverse Hanlon's razor, which is "if you want to do something malicious, make sure you can get away with attributing it to stupidity".

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4 comments · 2 top-level

eponeponepon9y ago· 2 in thread

To misquote Clarke, "sufficiently advanced malice is indistinguishable from stupidity".

BerislavLopac9y ago

I wanted to propose the name "Clarke-Hanlon Theorem" for this, but apparently it's already known as Grey's Law: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HanlonsRazor

Edit: Actually it's not, the Grey's Law is the opposite of what eponeponepon wrote...

visakanvOP9y ago

Damn, that's fantastic. I'm using that from now on.

vikascoder9y ago

Or if your most stupid con act works on a particular set of people, you have struck gold. This is very deliberate on their part. They are not looking for someone possessing any iota of critical thinking skills (the IRS scammers in contrast look for the most easily "scared" demoraphic). They are phishing a different kind of fish.

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