[ExI] Occam's razor

[William Flynn Wallace]

Which is the simpler formulation of Occam's Razor, "the simplest
explanation is preferred because it involves the fewest assumptions" or
"the simplest explanation is the best"?  ;>   Ben

The second one should read:  the simplest explanation is the best because
it's the simplest and involves the fewest assumptions - it does NOT mean
that it is anywhere closer to the correct answer because we do not know
that.  bill w

On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 3:08 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On 20/01/2023 22:53, bill w wrote:
>
> Just reading An Immense World, by Ed Jong (author of I Contain
> Multitudes).  Surprisingly, he makes a common error:  he wrote that Occam's
> Razor meant that the simplest explanation is the best.  Totally wrong.  It
> is as likely to be wrong as any other explanation.
>
> It means that the simplest explanation is preferred because it involves
> the fewest assumptions (entities, Occam wrote), and as we know, assumptions
> can be wrong.
>
> Agree?   bill w
>
>
> Well, it's not so much a matter of agreeing, as a matter of are you
> correct? You are, as far as I understand it.
>
> However:
>
> Which is the simpler formulation of Occam's Razor, "the simplest
> explanation is preferred because it involves the fewest assumptions" or
> "the simplest explanation is the best"?  ;>
>
> Ben
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