What do you think about Occam's Razor?

Question

I think Occam's Razor is a little absurd in this example. What do you think?

http://www.skepticreport.com/skepticism/occamsrazor.htm

Answer 1

Like any tool Occam's Razor provides a tool to consider a situation.  Especially one that is unusual.  It's just a frame work to begin understanding the world around us.

You hear footsteps in the hall way but you check to see if your children are sneaking out for a raid on the fridge first because that may be the first and best explanation.  If you find this not to be true then you continue to find explanations and eliminate them.  Sherlock Holmes said when you eliminate the possible whatever is left however improbable must be the answer.

Answer 2

It has been my experience that the theory can be extremely flawed.  I estimate its efficiency at about 73%. Hardly worth considering except for quick and dirty analysis.

Tell me Deenie, if you had a brain tumor and Occam's Razor dictates that your right eye be removed. How much weight would you put into it against 'possible alternatives'?

Occam's Razor is for weenies that don't have anything better to spout, and it makes a nice sound bite on CSI. Geeze..

Answer 3

i know what you mean, i dont like the theory becuase it says that the easyest is always the right way and i know thats not true

Answer 4

Better;

If you hear hoof beats,  think horses not zebras

First dude said exactly what he meant to say.  One would have to be delusional to think unicorns not illogical.

Oh and second dude means "when you eliminate the IMPOSSIBLE"

two people got that quote wrong.

see link

Answer 5

I think you got a lovely, lively discussion going, though it took me a bit to sort out the order of discussion between unicorn guy/leviticus and flintguy.  

Occam's Razor is a kluge, intended to assist in the rough and dirty work of on the fly decision or a general guide to reduce mental noise.  There were a number of centuries between Occam and Holmes, and Holmes was fictional....so, please let's not confuse the two.

A 3-year-old neighbor was quite certain when we were children that he was superboy.  We had to give up challenging the lie, because we got tired of watching him to make sure he didn't try to fly, to prove us wrong.  But the folks on this discussion are much older and wiser, aren't we?  Aren't we?

We all have a right to personal opinion, but opinion IS NOT FACT.  It may on occasion supersede fact in importance.  We all know that little boy couldn't fly, but it was the older kids' job to see he didn't hurt himself.  In his mind, his life was intolerable, and flight was the sanest explanation - but that kid had been pushed too hard.

It's easy to confuse fact and strong emotion under pressure.  Occam's Razor is a choice to minimize that, but it isn't foolproof - and Holmes' opnion belongs to fiction....

Answer 6

This is what bothers me about being in the category of "believer." I am skeptical but know that the paranormal exist from experience. Some people want to believe so badly that they make everything paranormal even though it is not.  

I think people make themselves believe their own lies / exaggerations b/c the want to.

Answer 7

The example given is not absurd, it is expressly oversimplified. Occam's Razor is not absurd either, if it is taken for what it was intended. In other words, you're not using it to make decisions about the treatment of brain tumors--that's absurd. Occam simply meant that one shouldn't overcomplicate things when contemplating an issue, because the most plausible solution is usually the correct solution. The cat and the milk example demonstrates this.

Answer 8

I think that first dude means to say unicorns not zebras.

I can't see that the milk fairy is any more absurd than some of the other ideas which are eagerly embraced on this forum.

Edit

If you hear voices first see if the neighbours have their radio on too loud and then you get tested for auditory hallucinations.

I don't agree with Sherlock's saying "when you eliminate the possible whatever is left however improbable must be the answer".  There may be an answer to the problem that you haven't discovered yet, just because you haven't found the solution it doesn't mean that you should leap to a ridiculous conclusion.

Edit

Lol

Okay, sorry first dude.

I first heard that quote as unicorns.

I'm sure there are lots of  people that hear hoof beats and they are zebras though, followed by some giraffe and wildebeest...

Anyway, my apologies.

Answer 9

Occam's Razor is a wonderful tool and like any tool can be used poorly or with extreme skill. The explanation given in the link is perhaps one of the poorest examples of it's use I have yet read. Applying Occam's razor would be investigating the most basic explanation first. In other words put out a saucer of milk and watch (or videotape) to see if the cat is the one who drinks it (thus testing your first chosen hypothesis).

Occam's razor does not suggest that the simplest explanation (not creating more conditions or entities) is the preferred explanation but rather the explanation that should be tested first.

If you catch video of the milk fairy drinking the milk then you would have failed to provide support for "the cat drank it" hypothesis.

It is very useful in paranormal investigations and most investigators frequently use it when they first check the water pipes (and all other natural explanations) before determining the phenomena does not have a natural explanation (or at least one they can find supporting evidence for),

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