Saturday, January 15, 2005

THE PRINCIPLE OF FRUGALITY, "Ockam's Razor."

"Ockham’s razor" is
the law of economy, or
parsimony, or frugality
, meaning
"entities are not to be multiplied
beyond necessity."

Ref. Ency. Brit. 475, Micropedia.

. . .Principle of William of Ockham
who altho he did not invent it,
mentioned it so often that it became
known as "Ockham’s razor."

It is a a fine and perceptive principle
used in medieval Scholasticism
and science, as did Galileo in
defending the simplest hypothesis of the heavens

(Oposed at the time by all of organized religion
and suppositions of revelation based on a
literal interpretation of the bible, and there
fore he was condemned and restricted to his
home for the rest of his life by Roman Catholic authorities.)

It is applied both in biology and philosophy,
e.g., "no action should be interpreted in terms
of a higher psychical faculty when a lower
faculty suffices."

The principle can be widely applied:
Keep it simple, Stupid, KISS
Good writing is to the point, concise and clear.
Likewise good speaking, i.e., "Don't beat around the bush."
and you the reader will find other applications.

One conclusion: If quantum physics finds that the very basis of all reality, as far as one can push science to discover is "particles constantly in motion, which appear and disappear without explanation,"
therefore, the most fundamental FACT of nature is "relational aliveness,"
then why should we need further name for Ultimate Reality, than
"Relational Aliveness."

Ockham's razor!



1 Comments:

At 9:55 AM, Blogger opinionated said...

I surely wish that professors would apply this concept to required writing instead of demanding a certain number of pages or words. I like the "woman's skirt" analogy: long enough to cover the subject and short enough to be interesting. One of the main things I have learned in 7 years in seminary is to write 10-15 pages whether I have anything to say or not. What a waste.

 

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