[extropy-chat] Role of Observer is not Relevant

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On 3/27/07, Jef Allbright <jef at jefallbright.net> wrote:

>
> I expect that you value Occam's Razor, which principle is at the core
> of what I'm saying here.  William of Occam, along with mathematical
> models such as maximum entropy, would strongly suggest that you
> abstain from postulating entities that may exist without being
> observed.

### Do prime numbers exist? I have never seen one. What would it mean
to "observe" a prime number, or indeed any mathematically describable
structure?

I feel that you are invoking the razor in vain. It is not intended to
shave the number of entities but rather the number of ideas we have
about entities.

Rafal