Cunningham's Law: Find The Truth By Being Stupid

Don’t ask. Give the wrong answer. Get an onslaught of right answers. Cunningham’s law states that the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question, but “to post the wrong answer.” It tells us something about how the internet and human communication functions. Posting a lie works because people love feeling smart. We give them the rush of dopamine of putting us back on the rails. It’s a fun thought experiment, even if Cunningham’s law does not always work — it’s not a “law” and is more trouble than it’s worth.

The problem with Cunningham’s law is that most internet correctors are not experts. The motivation is “I’ll tell you what!” and this mostly attracts insecure people with too much time on their hands. People who have a background in any complicated endeavor aren’t going to spend their precious time correcting random Reddit comments. Engaging with every stupid poster online would take more than one lifetime and wouldn’t leave a dent. Experts are smart enough to know that. Hence the corrections you might receive are going to be from the know-it-all amateurs and low self-esteem parrots who aren’t likely to furnish you with a valuable answer.

This is why crowd-sourced media like Reddit, Quora, and X (Twitter) are still overflowing with misinformation. People upvote, like, and share things they want to be true. Key: “want to be true.” What’s genuinely true and what people wish to believe are two different things. If you take Cunningham’s law for granted then, you will just spread bad faith and garbage online. Your hopes of being correctly will remain as empty gaps in your Swiss cheese bridge to attaining knowledge. You will be taken as a troll who is contributing to the mishmash of awful content online. I’m sure you can do better than this.

The idea is that a wrong answer invites others to correct you. The ensuing dialogue should result in a refined, more accurate answer. Contributors feel compelled to bestow their wisdom. Members are eager to share their expertise online, providing detailed corrections and improvements. The community’s collective intelligence arrives at the correct solution more quickly than any individual could. Right. That’s if Cunningham’s law worked as it is drawn out theoretically. Those “Contributors” are amateurs, at best. The “Members eager to share” are fueled by empty desires and insecurities. The community’s “Collective intelligence” does not include any relevant expertise, by virtue of what the community is made up of.

Real-world instances of Cunningham’s law:

• Online Forums: on platforms like Stack Overflow that are designed for collaborative questions and answers, posting an answer that is intentionally wrong can lead to a flood of corrections, clarifications, and other insights, taking everyone to the correct conclusion.

• Social Media Discussion: when somebody posts a controversial or blatantly incorrect opinion on X or Facebook, the ensuing debate forces a nuanced discussion. If experts step in to correct the misinformation, great. Often the know-it-alls bring their wisdom in and no robust conclusion is reached however.

• Collaborative Wiki Platforms: in wiki communities, when incorrect information is posted, other contributors are typically quick to edit and update the content to ensure the final article reflects accurate information.

How you might use Cunningham’s law as a mental model: (1) be wrong — if you want to test an idea or are looking for an answer, state a hypothesis you aren’t sure is right, as this can invite corrections and spur discussion; (2) let them speak — foster a culture in your team or organization where correcting mistakes is constructive and not confrontational, encouraging members to question and refine each other’s ideas, knowing that corrections are part of the path to the truth; (3) leverage cumulative knowledge — recognize that intentionally presenting a controversial statement can activate collective knowledge, hence forums, discussion boards, and social media platforms can be ways to crowdsource answers and harness community wisdom; (4) be a newbie — recognize that even experts benefit from challenging their assumptions, and remain open to feedback.