Occam's Razor
Written by Studio AM.
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When two explanations both fit the facts, which should you believe? A principle known as Occam's razor offers a rule of thumb: prefer the one that assumes the least. If a simpler account and a more complicated one explain the same evidence equally well, the simpler is usually the better bet.
The razor does not claim that the world is always simple. Reality is often tangled, and the plainest story is sometimes wrong. The narrower advice is this: do not multiply assumptions without need. An extra assumption should do useful explanatory work. If removing it changes nothing about how well the account fits the evidence, there may be no reason to keep it.
Consider a light that will not turn on. One explanation is a dead bulb. Another is a fault in the town's power grid combined with a coincidental failure of your neighbor's line and a problem with your switch. Both accounts could include a reason for the darkness, but the second adds events for which no evidence has been given. Checking whether the bulb works is a reasonable starting point. Other observations, such as nearby lights failing too, could support a different account.
Used well, the razor is a guide to allocating attention, not a substitute for evidence. It tells you where to look first and which added assumptions need support, not which is finally true. When new facts arrive, the simplest explanation must yield to them like any other. The razor guides the search; it does not end it.
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Questions
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Question 1 of 4
What does Occam's razor advise, according to the passage?
The answer is A: Prefer the explanation that assumes the least when explanations fit equally well.
The razor is stated as a rule of thumb: 'prefer the one that assumes the least.'
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Question 2 of 4
In the example of the light, which is the simpler explanation?
The answer is B: A dead bulb
A dead bulb is a single proposed cause. The alternative adds several separate failures without evidence for them.
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Question 3 of 4
Why would evidence that nearby lights had also failed matter?
The answer is A: It could support an explanation involving a wider power problem.
Several lights failing is new evidence that the bulb-only account may not explain. The final paragraph says explanations must yield to new facts.
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Question 4 of 4
What does 'multiply' mean in this passage?
The answer is A: increase the number of
'Multiply assumptions' means to keep adding them, guided by 'without need.'
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