Occam's razor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For the aerial theatre company, see Ockham's Razor

Theatre Company. Occam's razor (also written as Ockham's razor from William of Ockham (c. 1287 1347), and in Latin lex parsimoniae) is a principle of parsimony, economy, or succinctnessused in logic and problem-solving. It states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The application of the principle often shifts the burden of proof in a discussion.[a] The razor states that one should proceed to simpler theories until simplicity can be traded for greater explanatory power. The simplest available theory need not be most accurate. Philosophers also point out that the exact meaning of simplest may be nuanced. Solomonoff's inductive inference is a mathematically formalized Occam's razor shorter computable theories have more weight when calculating the probability of the next observation, using all computable theories which perfectly describe previous observations. In science, Occam's razor is used as a heuristic (general guiding rule or an observation) to guide scientists in the development of theoretical models rather than as an arbiter between published models. In the scientific method, Occam's razor is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic or a scientific result.