(no subject)

[nerdfury.livejournal.com]

Hello!

I haven't got a word today, but I thought I would post something completely different. Kinda. It's still a phrase, but it's a pretty neat phrase/rule I like to pull out when the need arises, and it's surprised me how few people know about this fantastic rule.

Today's fabulous thingy is:

Occam's Razor [okh-am's ray-zor]

Occam's Razor is the principle that "entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily." The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory.

Or, to simplify it: "the simplest explanation is usually the correct one."

Etymology
Named after the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham

The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae ("law of parsimony", "law of economy", or "law of succinctness"): entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem, roughly translated as "entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity." An alternative version Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate translates "plurality should not be posited without necessity."

Usage
Faced with dozen choices all laid out before him, Steve had spent the last hour trying to decide where he should go. The desk was covered in scrunched up pieces of paper and empty cans of Red Bull, the whiteboards covered in brain-stormed ideas and drawings. Everyone's sleeves were rolled up and their ties were loose - and the deadline was fast approaching.

"Well," said Steve, "let's apply Occam's Razor to the situation - the simplest notion is usually the correct one - we're getting pizza for dinner!"

Comments

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Wow, coincidentally I only heard of this for the first time the other day.

[dylan-weir.livejournal.com]

Haha, I just was thinking about this term and how you would use it this evening!

[gozarutchi.livejournal.com]

I always knew about this principle (and put it to use sometimes, though admittedly less frequently than I should), but I never knew the name. Nice posting. 8U

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Of course, pizza is not always the simplest possible dinner -- for ex, if it takes effort to scrape up enough cash, and there's a box of mac-and-cheese in the cupboard.

---L.

[zeegirl.livejournal.com]

YES. I love this one.

Plus, I have to give the hubs props for incorporating it into the name of one of his WoW characters...

[xhallucinationx.livejournal.com]

(http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=WIGU-OCCAM&Category_Code=)

[nerdfury.livejournal.com]

That would make more sense if I knew what it was! I know it's William of Ockham, but the scooter he's on?

Or is it just that it's because it has a Franciscan friar on a scooter, which is hilarious?

Because friars on scooters is fantastic, and I must have this shirt!

[xhallucinationx.livejournal.com]

It's a razor brand scooter. :)

[nerdfury.livejournal.com]

Oho! Where'd you find the picture and/or where can you get the shirt?

[xhallucinationx.livejournal.com]

I conveniently made the picture into a link, so if you click you can buy it. :) It's by the guy who does Overcompensating (http://overcompensating.com), this webcomic I read.

[thorintatge.livejournal.com]

It's a nice concept, although I've seen it misused a fair bit. I don't like your example here--the principle is for figuring out which of several -explanations- is the most likely, rather than which of several courses of action should be taken. It's more like--"Well, I suppose humanity *could* be descended from some alien seed organisms spread by meteors, but let's use Occam's Razor, here--far more likely we evolved on earth, just like all these other critters that have a lot of strong similarities with us."

[nerdfury.livejournal.com]

Occam's Razor could be used for figuring out things in many situations - it's not just limited to your suggestion. I'm sorry you dislike my usage, however last I checked we weren't supposed to be a straight-faced, bland community using clinical information in our words.