Occam's Razor, Dulled

Occam's Razor is a philosophical rule of thumb that is being used in ways far beyond it's legitimate scope.

To be honest I made this video so I could use the background footage. I shot it a couple of weeks ago and just showing it by itself would not be that interesting, so I thought I would babble in front of it. It was shot by laying my camera on top of a newspaper box shooting straight up on Fifth Avenue right across from the Empire State Building. At 2:03 a helicopter files over my right shoulder (camera left) from top to bottom (east to west). I like it.

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• Occam's
• Razor
• Logic
• Philosophy
• Parsimony
• Simplicity
• Empire
• State
• Building
• sky
• clouds
• time-lapse
• Ockham
• Occam
• William
• of

[myjizzureye]

You got to be like a heart beat and a fart away from a massive pine box. I'm like on the edge of my chair watching cause im thinking any breath you draw might be your last.

[FantasticBabblings]

@myjizzureye Many heartbeats and farts since your comment and I'm still here :)

[TheMors666]

While I agree with most of this, it may limit Occam’s Razor too much. If one person makes X hypothesis and reaches Z conclusion and another person makes Y hypothesis to reach Z conclusion, Occam’s Razor can be used when comparing X and Y as their conclusions are equal. X and Y can be completely different (the arguments can be entirely different) but Occam’s Razor can still be applied legitimately.

[chrisofnottingham]

I think you have to see OR in the context that people then didn't know so much stuff for sure anyway. He is thus saying "don't make up more stuff than you need to." Today this would shift to "try to keep ideas for which there is no evidence to a minimum."

The point about QM is that before we had evidence for it, you would have been crazy and unjustified in suggesting it because there was just no reason to. However, with new evidence - things not being equal - QM is as simple as we can make it.

[myjizzureye]

@FantasticBabblings Well if you're standing on thin ice you might as well dance huh....

Nobody can say you haven't lived life to the fullest. Just dont leave anybody your bakery tab as it will force somebody to mortgage their house.

[Pigroota]

Yep. That's what you get when a scientist tries to interpret a philosophical idea. I don't think the idea is simple, but his rant does become a bit garbled, even smarmy. But we were chatting with 2 totally different viewpoints. All I know is that scientists do not yield to logic. Empiricism is all they know. That's why philosophers have far more sex than scientists!

Aussies are pretty cool. Our country is full of wanker politicians and do gooders, but generally we know how to have a good time!

[0spiker]

Babble a little? Like a hurricane rains a little? "I don't know what I know, but that's a simplification of oh uh I don't know or uh maybe I do if I knew what that word meant. Like when I say the concept was around before W of O, then talk about thinkers who lived after him unless they uh lived before him uhm, if I knew what lived meant. I know it's defined in a book somewhere, well..."Here's a much less known tool in Occam's tool box: Occam's GET TO THE GODDAMNED POINT ALREADY!!

[Piccolo7126]

are the quidlibetal (spelling?) questions any good?

[FantasticBabblings]

@Pigroota Aussie! Ok. The explanation is simple. The Dingo ate the crop circle :)

[Pigroota]

Ok, but don't forget that this approach is not mutually exclusive to science. After all, the Razor from a philosophical viewpoint provides greater pragmatism where a theory is want of proof. Where science fails, philosophy can prevail! The Razor provides a suitable answer to a scientific question in the crop circle example. I don't like that quote. Don't get me wrong though - the scientific approach is ALWAYS the way to go!

Jingo is another word for mate in Aussie slang