The first two are:

1.When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

2.The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.

Arthur C. Clarke, the famed sci-fi author who penned these laws, is probably best known for co-authoring the screenplay to 2001: A Space Odyssee

  • sik0fewl@lemmy.ca
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    4 hours ago

    I’d heard of that as Hanlon’s razor:

    Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

    Edit: Hanlon, not Hanson

    • pyre@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      I usually agree with this, which is why i hated the r/theyknew subreddit, where people claimed everything ever was on purpose and never thought anyone could simply make a mistake however obvious it could be.

      however not only does this not apply to politics, it’s almost certainly reversed every time, even if stupidity is involved. for example Republicans are stupid, but they don’t do what they do because they’re stupid; they do it because they’re demons.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
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      7 hours ago

      And it is used as a blank check by malicious politicians around the world since decades, if not centuries.