Your guts have been right all along - Occam's Razor

THE OCCAM’S RAZOR OR OCKHAM’S RAZOR

“This is the basis of science. It gives two possible outcomes for an event and the simplest version or easiest to explain of the outcomes is the right one. It deduces that simplicity is the best or easiest explanation to various hypotheses.” 

Occam’s razor is not to be used to counter others opinion, its heuristic in nature. It is a tool to disprove something, and you only use it to find possible explanation of an event. Razor is a principle in philosophy that allows one to eliminate ("shave off") unlikely explanations for a phenomenon, or avoid unnecessary actions.

The principle of parsimony and the principle of plurality is the same to me heuristically. Parsimony is not using resources available and the principle of plurality stipulates that plurality should not be posited without necessity (pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate).

William of Occam was a realist empiricist (perception based on intuitive cognition). Hence, he did not believe anything except seen, felt, touched and perceived. The Occam’s razor can be used to uncover the truth of the universe, but that’s not the point, the main drive is finding possible explanations for events.

William Occam (1280-1349) was a Franciscan monk (Catholic). He took a vow of poverty (promise not to be money oriented) so he lived a meager and humble life, he told the church at the time to take a vow of poverty but he was later excommunicated. He was a rationalist, at the time rationalism, and the church didn’t go hand in hand.

Plot twist: He actually didn’t invent the Occam’s razor as it was much attributed to him, it was a line of thought in the medieval time. Aristotle was the father of this school of thought. Aristotle said,

“Simplicity is perfection and perfection is simplicity. He said the more perfect nature was the fewer means it requires for its operations.” 

Jean Buridan really encapsulated this principle (Occam’s razor) and there was a guy from the 19th century (William Rowan Hamilton) a British mathematician that misattributed this principle to William Occam which we all know.

The XXII Pope John wasn’t into Occam’s theory and they squared up on this principle as the Pope was more of an Imperialist (influence through colonization). The heated battle led to the excommunicating William Occam and his brothers (religious) in 1328 and they went to Munich to seek refuge. They were protected by Emperor Louis IV. While in Munich, William wrote several articles about the pope being a heuristic person. Judging the battle between the Pope and Occam, William Occam took a vow of poverty and expects the church to do also which was practically impossible at medieval times since the church held a very powerful position. So, Occam was quite an imperialist too, but history omitted that. Let’s move on and see the main reason this guy was very popular during his era.

The main reason why he was very popular was because he fought against the view then called the “medieval synthesis” which was championed by Thomas Aquinas which was a theologian and a representationalist. The medieval synthesis says that “God was first and foremost everything, all human knowledge came from God.” Thomas took the example of cause and effect to prove his point which was widely acceptable at that epoch. William of Occam being a rationalist responded and said, “We tend to think things are things because they arise from human mind as cognition and not God.” 

Empirical evidence is based on what you see, feel or hear. This is similar to Lawrence and Einstein, and they both had the conclusion mathematically that the space time continuum, that the closer we get to moving in speed of light, the more we slow down. This principle was held by both Lawrence and Albert Einstein. Lawrence all of a sudden came out with a newer conclusion that the reason we are slower while moving in the speed of light is because of the ether (basically magic) in space. Einstein explanation was more rooted mathematically, which makes his view popular today. So, Lawrence violated this principle of plurality by adding something to his theory that required leap of faith instead of empirical evidence.

Now, there’s a word for you to use if you can’t prove anything empirically, it is called positivism.

Also, Occam’s razor can be used by two people to disprove. Say, we have a skeptic and an empiricist:

An empiricist argues that he saw a ghost in the river bank, and the skeptics say that is not a ghost, there is nothing like a ghost. The skeptic won’t use the Occam’s razor to defend himself since it use doesn’t go with their belief norms. So, an empiricist will either use the Occam’s razor to deduce that there’s a reflection of light on a fractured water that gives a shimmering view of a ghost or use the simplest definition, there’s a photography mishap which is final.

FACTS ABOUT THE ICON

William of Ockham was an English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher and theologian, who is believed to have been born in Ockham, a small village in Surrey.

Born: 1285, Ockham, United Kingdom

Died: 10 April 1349, Munich, Germany

Education: University of Oxford, Merton College, Oxford

RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION: Being a rationalist is a safer school of thought which I believe may help in making decision better rather that base your decision on hearsay from generation to generation. You can check out William of Ockham’s memoirs on Google.