Occam's razor says that things should not be multiplied beyond what is necessary . In the realm of the unknown it can, and often does, lead to incorrect answers. For example, imagine two Greek philosophers having a discussion about the atom at around 400 b.c. Imagine one philosopher theorizing the atom is composed of one, and only one, component, and imagine another philosopher theorizing that the atom was composed of at least two componets, called electrons and protons. The philosopher using the principle of Occam's razor would say that the atom having more than one componet would be a needless complexification, and would be led down the wrong path. This does not mean the principle is wrong all the time, it just means that Occom's razor cannot be used in realms of spectulation, as one does not know before hand what is "multipling beyond necessity". A theory is a hypotheisis with or without emprical data, and when you have a theory WITHOUT emprical data, you cannot use Occom's razor
2006-11-20
10:41:31
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