Can someone explain Occam's Razor for me?

[Nlighten1]

TIA!

[oostevo]

1. In its very oversimplified version ...

A monk decided long ago that the simplest answer (the simplest way to explain data) is the most likely to be true.

For a more in-depth look,
http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/OCCAMRAZ.html

[Mike Niendorff]

2. All other things being equal ...

... the simplest explanation is usually the best.


MDN

[librechik]

3. basically it means

the simplest answer is usually the correct answer.

Handy if you don't have time for nuance.

[drhilarius]

4. i think

when several possibilities offer a solution to a problem or situation, the simplest is most often the correct one.

[phantom power]

5. It goes like this:

If you have two theories (or any number) that might explain a set of observations, then the simplest theory is generally the best one to choose.

Paraphrasing Einstein: A theory should be as simple as possible, but no simpler.

[wryter2000]

10. Welcome to DU, e j e and drhilarious

:hi:

[Columbia]

6. It's the antithesis to LIHOP and MIHOP

That's all you need to know.

[RobertSeattle]

12. Would that be Bush's Razor?

Meaning the most complicated and convoluted answer is probably the correct one?

:evilgrin:

[Columbia]

19. You got it

:toast:

[Lisa]

20. not only that ...

The creepiest, scariest answer!

[sam sarrha]

22. which is obviously not sharp

[mike_c]

7. the simplist solution to a problem has the greatest likelihood...

...of being correct.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. Of course we would have no theory of relativity were that so

[Salviati]

18. not really...

Because although Newtonian mechanics is simpler than relativistic mechanics, it fails to explain all the observed phenomena, thus it can't possibly be right. Of course this goes for pretty much every theory in physics, including relativity, they all fall apart somewhere, but that doesn't mean that they aren't useful where they do apply...

[Richardo]

8. The simplest answer is likely the right one...

essentially

[ChickMagic]

9. When you hear hoofbeats

Think horses, not zebras! According to my Biology professors.

[kanrok]

13. Unless you're in Africa

[ChickMagic]

14. Good one!

:hi:

[NWHarkness]

11. In a nutshell

It is the principle that the answer to any question that requires one makes the fewest assumption in order to be true is the answer most likely to be true.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. Choose the simplest explanation

The one requiring the least leaps of logic.
If you hear the sound of hooves outside your window it is more likely horses than Zebras...the problem is that you might be in Africa where that is not necessarily true, so it results often in over simplifying.

Same when people use Occam's to deny God's existance since to do so one has to make assumptions as well.

Usually on DU, it's used as an assault weapon rather than a theory.

[Zero Gravitas]

25. not really.

Occam's razor does not often result in over-simplifying. If you are in Africa then thinking that the hoofbeats are Zebras is not a more complicated explanation than thinking its horses. The over-simplification in your example is forgetting that you're in Africa.

A more complicated explanation would be that Bush secretly put horse-shoes on a bunch of elephants and trained them to pretend to be horses masquerading as Zebras. If the alternate theory is that (given that we're in Africa) its actually a herd of Zebras, then Occam's Razor would indicate that the herd of Zebras explanation is more likely to be correct than the other.

[Cronus Protagonist]

16. Occam was the first man to invent the safety razor

Prior to that, everyone was using open razors that were very dangerous and could be used to slit someone's throat. So Occam, a Persian king, had a razor made that could only cut to the skin surface and could not be used to slit his throat, thus ensuring that his barber couldn't use the implement to kill him.

He should have patented it - he would have made millions.

http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[dave29]

21. Wikipedia is a great resource for this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_Razor

The principle is most often expressed as Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem, or "Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity", but this sentence was written by later authors and is not found in Occam's surviving writings. William wrote, in Latin, Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate, which translates literally into English as "Plurality should not be posited without necessity".

Dave Beckett of the University of Kent at Canterbury writes: "The medieval rule of parsimony, or principle of economy, frequently used by Ockham came to be known as Ockham's razor." <1>

Occam's Razor has also been referred to as "parsimony of postulates" and the "principle of simplicity" and "K.I.S.S." (keep it simple, stupid). Another proverb expressing the idea that is often heard in medical schools is, "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras." Like many maxims, it has deficiencies; African doctors are not well advised to follow it.

[sam sarrha]

23. A very simple and good method.. for simple minded people.

things are RARELY SIMPLE. it just too convient for the robber barrons and fascists to rationalize with.

[Dookus]

24. no, not really

It's one of the guiding forces in the scientific method, which is neither simple nor simplistic.

It doesn't say the simplest explanation of anything is correct. It says the theory that requires the fewest extraneous postulates and STILL DESCRIBES the phenomenon is the best.

[sam sarrha]

28. sounds like typical NEOCON crap...

i know how it is supposed to be used... but not how the right wing does use it.

[Dookus]

29. LOL!!

An explanation of Occam's Razor is "neocon crap"? ROFL

[Snow]

26. Then there's Holmes' Razor....

let's see if I can do this:

"When the impossible has been eliminated, what is left, however improbable, must be true."

[foo_bar]

27. the simplest explanation of Occam's Razor isn't necessarily correct

Plurality is not to be assumed without necessity.

...is all he wrote. Here's a better historical explanation than the Wikipedia:
http://www.weburbia.demon.co.uk/physics/occam.html

"Nature operates in the shortest way possible."
- Aristotle