Heinlein’s (sometimes “Hanlon’s”, see Wikipedia) Razor:
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
But note that most conspiracists are also stupid.
It’s legendary how difficult it can be to herd cats. I have observed, however, that it can be possible to convince a bunch of cats to chase the same mouse.
(Update: “Chase”, dammit. How many times did I read that over and not see the typo until now?)
If you see something stupid, always ask “Is this really stupid? What would make this the smartest possible choice under the circumstances? How is this the most rewarding option of all?”
Many times you’ll find that stupid people are smarter than you think.
The tests are not completed until the prototype is destroyed. — G. Harry Stine
I have often heard it said that any concept, no matter how complicated, can be explained to an interested and motivated 15 year old — if only you understand it yourself.
There is a corollary I think people forget, however: if someone attempts to explain something, and doesn’t succeed, there can only be one of two [...]
“Organizations which design systems are constrained to produce designs which are copies of the communication structures of these organizations.” — Jargon File
In the computer business, this is often stated as “if an organization with four groups designs a compiler, it will be a four-pass compiler.”
Here’s an interesting observation: this is a necessary condition. [...]
One must never precede any maneuver by a comment more predictive than, “Watch this!” — Sanjeev.net Murphy’s Laws Archive
Over time, little differences make big differences.
Moore’s Law (general form)
The amount of a computing resource (memory, processor power, network bandwidth, etc) you can buy with an inflation-adjusted dollar doubles every two years.
Wirth’s Law
Software gets slower, faster than hardware gets faster.
Clarke’s Three Laws of Prediction
When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he [...]
If something is possible now, it will remain possible ten years from now.
If something is barely possible now, it will become possible ten years from now.
If something isn’t really possible now, it won’t become possible in ten years.
Corollary: If something isn’t really possible now, but “should be possible” ten years from now, then it will [...]