Reply #71: Occam's Razor?

[JackRiddler]

Are you referring to the convenient heuristic (not a scientific law) for formulating hypotheses in the natural sciences by minimizing the "entities" or suppositions lacking evidence required to make the hypothesis work, also known as the principle of parsimony? The rule of thumb that a human being defined?

Well, when rocks like humans can issue press releases claiming they're not subject to a downward force of about 10 meters per second per second, let me know. Otherwise admit that thanks to consciousness and reflection and the ability to deceive each other, humans regularly circumvent "Occam's Razor," which anyway is not a law.

Or let me know when rocks like humans attempt to divert from evidence by way of thought-stopping platitudes that may make the speaker feel smart and smug, but don't actually say anything. Especially when what is included into the set of facts requiring an explanation is itself highly contestable, as is usually the case in human affairs.

By the way, at least get your terminology right. In the social sciences, and they do happen to be the subject here, "Occam's Razor" is properly referred to as the "Nerd Self-Lobotomy."