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Analysis / Occam's Razor

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A common misconception is that Occam's Razor says "when dealing with a problem with multiple explanations, the simplest explanation is correct".

But more accurately, Occam's Razor states that the most likely answer (not necessarily the correct one) is the simplest one that also agrees with all of the facts. That is, Occam's Razor is not about simplicity; it only demands that the explanation is likely free of elements that have nothing to do with the phenomenon and the explanation (although such is acknowledged to not be guaranteed).

And, in the most persnickety and technical sense, William of Ockham created the Razor to avoid God or A Wizard Did It as an unreflective solution to scientific and philosophical questions. The Razor is not an assertion that unobserved or immaterial causes are disproved or presumed not to exist (or proved/presumed to exist), but that one should not multiply causes as explanation of material phenomena unnecessarily (i.e. given that they cannot be observed, the empirical sciences restrict their scope to material causes and make no claims whatsoever about form, finality, or efficiency).

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