Occam’s Razor
Occam’s razor is a philosophical problem-solving technique that biases thinking towards selecting the simplest explanation. It does not state that we must create a simple explanation, rather it encourages one to preference simpler explanations.
Example applications
Occam’s razor is commonly associated with the advancement of scientific theories. Occam’s razor is only particularly useful if you don’t know the answer already, as it is a method of evaluating competing hypotheses.
Steps
Take your competing hypotheses, and compare them in a non-biased way. Then, once you have examined the competing hypotheses, look more favourably at the explanations that have fewer assumptions.
Key concepts
- the background of Occam’s razor
- an application of Occam’s razor to a real-world engineering problem
- a discussion about the difference between simplicity and fewer assumptions (for example, Newtonian physics may be simpler than the General Theory of Relativity, but arguably has more assumptions, such as assuming we are in a vacuum).
Core resources
- Domingos, P., The Role of Occam’s Razor in Knowledge Discovery provides a very academic approach to the concepts
- Adam Savage’s TED talk on simplicity covers the concepts well
Similar concept…
Occam’s razor is somewhat similar to the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle in design.