Why is ockham's razor true?

Question

ockham's razor is as follows -all other things being equal, the simplest solution is best

Answer 1

Ockham's Razor is a tool to help to determine the truth.  In and of itself, Ockham's Razor is no more true or untrue than a hammer is true or untrue.

When examining any situation, it is always best to start with the simplest explanation.  The more complexity that is built into an explanation, the more likely that there may be some flaw in logic, understanding, or the investigative techniques that would lead to a false conclusion.  Ockham's Razor helps researchers and investigators to "stay on track" and avoid adding too much complexity into their explanations and thereby it helps them to avoid adding additional risk or uncertainty into their explanations.

Einstien said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."

The simplest solution is only best if it is true, and sometimes, what appears to be a simple explanation is really only a limitted view on the problem at hand.

This is why I stated that Ockham's Razor is a tool to help simplify explanations and solutions.  It is not a rule to live by or an explanation in and of itself, but for some people, when all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.  Thanks for the question, and I hope this information is helpful.

Answer 2

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam's_Razor

Answer 3

I usually use a Daisy razor myself, but not sure if it is the best or not.

Answer 4

I've seen Ockham or Occam, either spelling is okay.

This is a good piece of advice since the more you multiply the complexities or the unfounded assumptions of an explanation, the more likely you are drifting away from reality. This is because we we come up with tentative explanations (hypotheses) by the process of inference, not deduction. Inference is an exercise in extrapolation and imagination, certainly guided by the scientific knowledge we have gained so far, but still subject to error. The more you conjecture, the more likely that you incur error.

So, this is why staying simple as long as you can usually benefit you. I look at Occam's razor as a way of prioritizing what explanations I should investigate first in order to get down to the truth as quickly as possible. It's not a rationale to disprove explanations, but it's just a method by which we can prioritize our investigations. The corollary is that if you can't eliminate a simple explanation that fits the facts, there's no rational reason to propose a more assumption-laden explanation instead.

Answer 5

Because it is! The only problem is thinking of the simplest answer to the problem. And by the way, it is Occams razor.

Answer 6

It's not always true.It just means the simplest solution is usually correct.Eliminate it,then go on to others.

Answer 7

It's not necessarily true in all cases, but it's usually a good place to start.  It's a good rule of thumb to avoid making things any more complicated than they need to be.  Adding unnecessary elements only complicates things.

Answer 8

It is not true. It is a flawed assumption quoted by people that are unable to give a sound reason for their actions or ideas.