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Brandolini's Law

The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.
Also known as the Bullshit Asymmetry Principle.
Coined in 2013 by Alberto Brandolini, an Italian programmer.
Related to the quote attributed to Noam Chomsky, "It takes a minute to tell a lie, and an hour to refute it."

Trolls rely on Brandolini's Law to tie up well-meaning people in time-consuming debunking, with a minimum of effort on their own part.

by WhatwasIsaying December 24, 2024


Kelly's Law of Committees

None of us are as dumb as all of us.
A counter to the older, pro-teamwork adage "None of us are as smart as all of us."
Speaks to the risk of lower-level workers' input being useless if upper management gives its own opinion first, due to the tendency of workers to fall in line once the position of the leader (who could fire them for dissent) is known.
The wording above was written on a wall at NASA's Houston complex after the Challenger disaster, as reported by astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Although the concept has long been known of, once it took the form of an aphorism, it acquired a viral quality.

Niels Bohr and son Aage asked low-level engineer Richard Feynman their questions before asking higher-ups like Oppenheimer, partly to avoid taking up important administrators' time, but also to avoid Kelly's law of committees. Asking the higher-ups first, with lower-level workers present, would have a chilling effect on the latter's offering their own ideas and concerns.

by WhatwasIsaying December 24, 2024


wogo

without going over

In blackjack, you try to get as close to 21 wogo.
On the Price is Right, you win if you're closest to the price wogo.

by WhatwasIsaying July 17, 2023