Hanlon's Razor

Not everyone is the devil and out to get you

It takes more effort being mean-spirited, aggressive and negative than it is making a stupid mistake

Most negative actions by others are either stupid or made in ignorance or a genuine mistake

Stupidity is in far greater supply than malice

Assuming people are out to get you suggests that they are thinking about you, more than they actually are

This can cause a vivid imagination to try to diagnose the intent of another person + strategise how to recover, which makes the problem bigger than it is

People are human and make bad/stupid decisions sometimes

It's harder to see opportunities if we think people are out to get us

Defensive mode isn't productive and puts us in the middle of someone else's world, when we are not actually there

Try to give benefit of the doubt because that takes less effort than being defensive

Don't assume the worst, malice or bad intent