Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
One thing I found about Occam's Razor is that its definition is very, very fluid. And by that I don't mean its actual definition or intent, I'm talking about how people will try to squirrel around the definition when the discussion or argument aren't going their way.
I've mention this before, but where I live is about 4000 feet above sea level. About 100 miles northwest of here is the caprock, which is where the high plains (essentially a state-sized plateau) ends. In every crevice of the canyon (about 3200-3500 feet above sea level) are millions and millions of fossilized seashells which petrified much too quickly to be accounted for by the flood (given its dates by the same Irish bishop.)
Doctor Who reference in Pokemon B2W2? Headcanon accepted.
Here's probably the best wording of Occam's Razor:
when you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better.
In other words, the most simple conclusion is probably the correct one. When I was discussing how "fluid" the definition was, that was to mean that folks will try to twist the wording of its definition to bypass what is essentially the spirit of the meaning (which does have the practical use of a very good indicator of whoever is employing this tactic is losing said discussion, badly.)
Comments
It's nothing but an excuse for reasonable people to devalue complicated explanations.
Just because an idea is stupid and overly complicated, doesn't mean it's not true, valid or good.
Some of the best ideas are stupid and overly complicated.
The "simplest explanation" thing is kind of a gloss.