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Instances of using Occam's razor to justify belief in less complex and more simple theories have been criticized as using the razor inappropriately. For instance Francis Crick stated that "While Occam's razor is a useful tool in the physical sciences, it can be a very dangerous implement in biology.
Hanlon's razor became well known after its inclusion in the Jargon File, a glossary of computer programmer slang, in 1990. [4] Later that year, the Jargon File editors noted lack of knowledge of the term's derivation and the existence of a similar epigram by William James , although this was possibly intended as a reference to William James ...
Occam's razor: Explanations which require fewer unjustified assumptions are more likely to be correct; avoid unnecessary or improbable assumptions. Popper's falsifiability criterion: For a theory to be considered scientific, it must be falsifiable. [7] Sagan standard: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. [8]
Hanlon's razor is a corollary of Finagle's law, named in allusion to Occam's razor, normally taking the form "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." As with Finagle, possibly not strictly eponymous.
Walter Chatton (c. 1290–1343) was an English Scholastic theologian and philosopher who regularly sparred philosophically with William of Ockham, who is well known for Occam's razor. Chatton proposed an "anti-razor". From his Lectura I d. 3, q. 1, a. 1:
William Ockham (c. 1285–1349) is remembered … [for the] maxim attributed to him and known as Occam's razor Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem or "Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily." The term razor refers to the act of shaving away unnecessary assumptions to get to the simplest explanation.
The concept is related to Occam's razor as, according to such a heuristic, simpler explanations are preferred to more complicated ones. Only in situations where extraordinary evidence exists would an extraordinary claim be the simplest explanation. [ 7 ]
Occam's razor – the idea that explanatory mechanisms should not be posited without being necessary. Red herring – drawing attention to a certain element to mislead; Shaggy dog story – a long-winded anecdote designed to lure the audience into a false sense of expectation, only to disappoint them with an anticlimactic ending or punchline.