Jan 6, 2010

Occam’s Razor is much simpler than it sounds

Try reading about it on Wikipedia and you end up thinking it is a major scientific theorem that is abstruse and exotic. It is not.

Simply put, Occam’s Razor says that if there are several explanations, the simplest one must be chosen until any one of the explanations are proven to be the right one.

Phew… something as simple as that and you call it Occam’s Razor, Law of Parsimony and what not…

An easy example –

Problem: Those crazy Crop Circles that appear over vast areas of crops in the US and other places.

Explanation 1: Aliens used unimaginable methods to create them.

Explanation 2: Humans used some mechanical methods to create them.

Occam’s Razor will say that aliens are an improbability, unimaginable methods is also improbable, both together are complex and far out. Humans is right here right now, some mechanical method is also possible. So until proven wrong, explanation 2 is correct.

FYI – in 1990 someone came forward and confessed that they had created the crop circles, the others were copycats of these people.

Anyways, enjoy life but don’t forget to apply Occam’s Razor to your problems.







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