Hanlon's Razor

“We're going to build a wall!”

You may think this Donald Trump statement is malicious and rooted against Mexicans.

You may think Donald Trump does not like foreigners coming to the US.

You may think Donald Trump's middle-eastern travel ban to the US makes him racist.

But, you'd be served well to check your assumptions.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

This heuristic is Hanlon's Razor.

Donald Trump may be stupid. He may be smart for capturing the crowd. He may be malicious.

But when you don't know any better, assume that no-one is acting out of malice, and they didn't know any better.

A different riff on this rule was captured in Roman law:

in dubio pro reo

(When in doubt, rule for the accused)

Without evidence, don't get caught up, move on, stay free of judgement.