[W/K] :: Occam's Razor

  Occam's Razor
       n : the principle that entities should not be multiplied
           needlessly; the simplest of two competing theories is to
           be preferred [syn: Ockham's Razor, principle of
           parsimony, law of parsimony]

  Occam's Razor
       
           The English philosopher, William of Occam
          (1300-1349) propounded Occam's Razor:
       
          Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.
       
          (Latin for "Entities should not be multiplied more than
          necessary").  That is, the fewer assumptions an explanation of
          a phenomenon depends on, the better it is.
       
          For example, some claim that God caused himself to exist and
          also caused the universe to exist - he was the "first cause" -
          whereas Occam's Razor suggests that if one accepts the
          possibility of something causing itself then it is better to
          assume that it was the universe that caused itself rather than
          God because this explanation involves fewer entities.
       
          The negation of Occam's Razor would suggest that an
          arbitrarily complex explanation is just as good as the
          simplest one.  (E.g. God and his cat created a robot called
          Sparky who built the universe from parts bought from a shop in
          another dimension).
       
          See also KISS Principle.
       
          (1995-11-09)