Make Your Point > Archived Issues > OCCAM'S RAZOR
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In our study of vocabulary, we've created a cat's cradle, opened Pandora's box, and faced a Hobson's choice. (Can you define all three?)
Now it's time to wield Occam's razor, also known as "the law of p___i_o_y:" the idea that a theory or an explanation should contain the fewest possible elements. (Can you recall that term?)
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make your point with...
"OCCAM'S RAZOR"
The philosopher William of Occam (or Ockham), born around the year 1285, wrote this:
"Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate."
"Plurality must never be posited without necessity," or "Entities are not to be multiplied without necessity." In other words, keep it simple. Don't add or allow extra parts or pieces for no good reason.
The idea wasn't new when Occam wrote about it, but it came to be known as Occam's razor: the idea that, like a razor shaves away unwanted hair, we should shave away unnecessary parts or pieces from our thinking, our explanations, our interpretations of things, etc.
So, Occam's razor is the rule or idea that explanations are better (or more likely to be true) when they're as simple as possible.
Pronunciation:
OCK umz RAY zur
Part of speech:
Proper noun: "an appeal to Occam's razor," "a case for Occam's razor," "we applied Occam's razor."
Other forms:
Sometimes you'll see the "R" capitalized: "Occam's Razor."
How to use it:
Talk about people using, applying, wielding, ignoring, remembering, forgetting, or abiding by Occam's razor.
Or, say that some guess, thought, theory, analysis, assumption, understanding, explanation, or hypothesis uses or applies or wields Occam's razor, abides by Occam's razor, violates Occam's razor, etc.
Or, talk about people applying (or failing to apply) Occam's razor to their guesses, their thinking, their theories, etc.
Or, say that people trust, prefer, or believe in some idea or explanation (instead of others) because of Occam's razor, or on the basis of Occam's razor.
examples:
He suggested that the creation myth in the Bible is unscientific because, at the time, God didn't want to give people a scientific explanation that they couldn't understand; Occam's razor suggests that's a load of hooey.
"We can speculate about the intangible reasons for the Celtics' letdown season until we're green in the face. But if we let Occam's Razor cut through all the noise, we're left with this: The Celtics aren't the class of the East because they aren't good enough."
— Joe Wolfond, The Score, 5 March 2019
study it:
Explain the meaning of "Occam's razor" without saying "explanations should be simple" or "the least complicated guess is probably right."
try it out:
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone)'s (belief or insistence) that (something complicated is true) violates Occam's razor."
Example: "His insistence that Lady Gaga is involved in a secret plot to overtake America in the name of Satan violates Occam's razor but is pretty darn funny."
before you review, play:
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
Tidbits and Titles!
I provide the tidbits; you provide the title.
From our previous issue:
Here's a quote from a novel: "The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that novel: bank, Chateau Villette, cryptex, goddess, hidden, keystone, Leonardo, pagan, Pope, sacred feminine, stone, symbol, whispered.
What's the novel's title?
Answer: The Da Vinci Code.
Try this today:
Here's a quote from a book: "A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts."
And here are some terms and phrases that often appear in that book: active voice, avoid, colloquial, construction, emphatic, independent clauses, misused, relative clause, semicolon, split infinitive, thought, violation, writer.
What's the book's title?
review today's word:
1. A near opposite of OCCAM'S RAZOR is
A. LESS IS MORE.
B. AN EGG IS AN EGG.
C. THE TRUTH IS COMPLEX.
2. We ought to take Occam's razor to these _____.
A. plain haircuts
B. faineant layabouts
C. labyrinthine conspiracies
Answers are below.
a final word:
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.
From Liesl's blog:
36 ways to study words.
Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
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Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.
Answers to review questions:
1. C
2. C
In our study of vocabulary, we've created a cat's cradle, opened Pandora's box, and faced a Hobson's choice. (Can you define all three?)
"OCCAM'S RAZOR" The philosopher William of Occam (or Ockham), born around the year 1285, wrote this:
He suggested that the creation myth in the Bible is unscientific because, at the time, God didn't want to give people a scientific explanation that they couldn't understand; Occam's razor suggests that's a load of hooey.
Explain the meaning of "Occam's razor" without saying "explanations should be simple" or "the least complicated guess is probably right."
Fill in the blanks: "(Someone)'s (belief or insistence) that (something complicated is true) violates Occam's razor."
Spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—let your working memory empty out first.
1. A near opposite of OCCAM'S RAZOR is
Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |