I see this term float around the internet a lot but to this day the Google definitions have done nothing but confuse me further
EDIT: OMG I didn’t expect this post to blow up in just a few hours! Thank you all for making such clear and easy to follow explanations, and thank you for the awards!
In: 12004
Original statement: “Do not multiply entities beyond necessity”
Rephrased in ELI5 terms: When trying to think of an explanation for something unknown, generally it’s good if your theory does not assume a large number of different factors or parameters.
Common usage: The simplest explanation is the best.
Example: If you’re a doctor trying to come up with an explanation for a patient’s symptoms, you may be able to think of two different illnesses that, when combined, account for all symptoms. After some more thinking, you can also think of a single, different illness that could explain all the symptoms. Occam’s razor suggests that the single illness explanation is the better one.
Important caveat: This is just a guiding principle, not a hard rule. Sometimes the patient really does have two different illnesses…
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