JOURNAL ARTICLE

Razor sharp: The role of Occam's razor in science.

  • Published In: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2023, v. 1530, n. 1. P. 8 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: McFadden, Johnjoe 3 of 3

Abstract

Occam's razor—the principle of simplicity—has recently been attacked as a cultural bias without rational foundation. Increasingly, belief in pseudoscience and mysticism is growing. I argue that inclusion of Occam's razor is an essential factor that distinguishes science from superstition and pseudoscience. I also describe how the razor is embedded in Bayesian inference and argue that science is primarily the means to discover the simplest descriptions of our world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2023/12, Vol. 1530, Issue 1, p8
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0077-8923
  • DOI:10.1111/nyas.15086
  • Accession Number:174236543
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.