Occam’s razor, also known as the principle of maximum parsimony, is one of the fundamental guiding principles in both logic and science. It is commonly explained as, “the simplest solution is usually the correct one.” More accurately, it states that, “all else being equal, the solution that makes the fewest assumptions is usually the correct one.” In other words, when you have multiple competing hypotheses you should default to the one that requires you to make the fewest assumptions, unless there is some compelling, evidence-based reason to think that one of the other solutions is correct. This is closely related to concept of the burden of proof, which states that the person or view making an assertion is the one who is required to provide evidence, not the person who is defending the position that the claim is being made against. As I will illustrate, both of these concepts are…
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