Occam's Razor ffs

[Aimless]

What the hell is Occam's Razor do you use it, and how? What is your relationship with Occam's Razor?

[RandBlade]

It's a logic tool that roughly speaking means that for two otherwise equally plausible alternative theories the one with the least assumptions (commonly said to be the simplest) will be more likely to be accurate.

It doesn't guarantee (or mean to) that one is more accurate than the other, but in the absence of alternative evidence it more often than not is.

One reason it works well is that it's easier to demonstrate a hypothesis to be false than to be right. An incorrect simpler explanation can more readily be tested and shown to be false, but an incorrect complicated one can become ever more convoluted and complicated to avoid being dismissed.

[Loki]

I prefer explanations that can be tested, which usually means ones that are simpler. But I don't automatically assume that the simpler explanation is the better one. If anything, many of the explanations in poli sci today are far too simple.