Occam’s Razor

Occam’s Razor is a principle that originated in the 14th century and is still used today.

The friar William of Ockham proposed that if you have two competing ideas to explain the same phenomenon, you should opt for the simpler one.

In a time where society was built around the mystical elements of the Catholic Church, William of Ockam’s theory was incredibly radical.

By choosing to logically prefer the simpler explanation, he was potentially challenging many elements of the bible.

This rebellious streak can also be seen in his statement “God’s existence cannot be deduced by reason alone.”

Occam’s Razor in many ways is the precursor to modern probability theory. 

All things can be allocated a probability of occurrence. As such, any assumptions you add to your theory introduce greater possibilities of error and miscalculation:

Ockham’s personal beliefs about probability are apparent in the formal definition of Occam’s Razor:

“If there are multiple explanations for why something happened and they are equally persuasive, assume the simplest one is true. In the search for truth, remove unnecessary assumptions. Trust the lowest-complexity answer.”

Occam’s razor has been echoed by the intellectual giants Isaac Newton, Ludwig von Wittgenstein, Albert Einstein and Karl Popper. It’s a principle that serves subjects as diverse as physics, philosophy and even design.

Today the US navy incorporates a version of Occam’s Razor. It’s called the KISS design principle – the acronym stands for “Keep it simple, stupid.”

If you’ve ever watched someone get overexcited about a 179 slide slideshow – you’ll know how much appeal Occam’s razor holds as a mental model.

However, this is a principle not a hard and fast rule. If there is a more complicated solution that provides a better explanation for what has occurred, it is logical to opt for the more complicated solution.

Yet, Occam’s Razor often is proven valid time and time again.