From: Emlyn (emlyn@one.net.au)
Date: Wed Sep 20 2000 - 19:35:43 MDT
----- Original Message -----
From: <Spudboy100@aol.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2000 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: God & stuff (was: Re: just me)
> In a message dated 9/18/00 8:27:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> zero_powers@hotmail.com writes:
>
> << Yeah, yeah, I know. Occam's razor and all that rot. But there are
some
> questions I can't help wondering about. I can't simply put it out of my
> mind simply because the answer is nowhere in sight. Wish I could. But I
> can't.
>
> -Zero >>
> A few years ago an Australian mathematician showed that Occam's razor
didn't
> apply in all cases. I use it, and its a very valuable too, that razor, but
> its not everything. That needs to be kept in mind. The razor can slash out
> real possibilities simply because on the laziness, or lack or time, aand
> resources of the "researcher".
>
A definition of Occam's Razor (from
http://web.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/contents/O/occams
_razor.html )
The simplest definition of Occam's Razor is "Don't make unnecessarily
complicated assumptions". It can be used as a philosophical way of sorting
the simple theories from the complicated ones. When scientists select
theories, they don't just use the criterion of agreement or disagreement
with observations. They also have aesthetic principles, and a desire for an
elegant, universal theory. They use these aesthetic principles to remove the
cloud of trivially competing theories that necessarily surround every
theory. Occam's razor is a working rule of thumb, not the ultimate answer.
---- How do you say anything about this using maths? It's a rule of thumb, mostly an aesthetic/pragmatic principle. Got more on this? Of course, being a rule of thumb, Occam's Razor is not universally applicable. How do you objectively measure simplicity/complexity? I can't get the question out of my mind as to whether intangible aliens are surrounding & photographing me, and sharing lewd snaps with their friends. It ties me in knots. Emlyn
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