The principle most likely finds its origins in similar concepts, such as Occam's razor, Leonardo da Vinci's " Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication ", Mies Van Der Rohe's " Less is more ", or Antoine de Saint Exupéry's " It seems that perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away ".

* Occam's razor

Critics argue that to postulate a practically infinite number of unobservable universes just to explain our own seems contrary to Occam's razor.

The regularization penalty can be viewed as implementing a form of Occam's razor that prefers simpler functions over more complex ones.

* Occam's razor, a methodological principle named after the philosopher

According to Occam's razor, one should make as few assumptions as possible.

" This is known as the scientific principle of parsimony or Occam's razor.

Although he is commonly known for Occam's razor, the methodological principle that bears his name, William of Ockham also produced significant works on logic, physics, and theology.

* Occam's razor

Solomonoff's inductive inference is a mathematically formalized Occam's razor: shorter computable theories have more weight when calculating the probability of the next observation, using all computable theories which perfectly describe previous observations.

In science, Occam's razor is used as a heuristic ( general guiding rule or an observation ) to guide scientists in the development of theoretical models rather than as an arbiter between published models.

In the scientific method, Occam's razor is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic or a scientific result.

The term " Occam's razor " first appeared in 1852 in the works of Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet ( 1788 – 1856 ), centuries after Ockham's death.

The origins of what has come to be known as Occam's razor are traceable to the works of earlier philosophers such as John Duns Scotus ( 1265 – 1308 ), Maimonides ( Moses ben-Maimon, 1138 – 1204 ), and even Aristotle ( 384 – 322 BC ) ( Charlesworth 1956 ).

Solomonoff's inductive inference is a mathematical proof of a statement akin to Occam's razor, under the assumption that the environment follows some unknown but computable probability of distribution.

Occam's razor has gained strong empirical support as far as helping to converge on better theories ( see " Applications " section below for some examples ).

The validity of Occam's razor as a tool would then have to be rejected if the more complex explanations were more often correct than the less complex ones ( while the converse would lend support to its use ).

It is coherent, for instance, to add the involvement of Leprechauns to any explanation, but Occam's razor would prevent such additions, unless they were necessary.

Some argue that Occam's razor is not an inference-driven model, but a heuristic maxim for choosing among other models and instead underlies induction.

Alternatively, if we want to have reasonable discussion we may be practically forced to accept Occam's razor in the same way we are simply forced to accept the laws of thought and inductive reasoning ( given the problem of induction ).

Though one may claim that Occam's razor is invalid as a premise helping to regulate theories, putting this doubt into practice would mean doubting whether every step forward will result in locomotion or a nuclear explosion.

That is the meaning of Occam's razor.

* 5. 47321 Occam's razor is, of course, not an arbitrary rule nor one justified by its practical success.

In The Model of the Motions, Ibn al-Haytham also describes an early version of Occam's razor, where he employs only minimal hypotheses regarding the properties that characterize astronomical motions, as he attempts to eliminate from his planetary model the cosmological hypotheses that cannot be observed from Earth.

See also Occam's Razor and references.

See also the use of Morgan's canon in Biology at Occam's Razor.

Parsimony is also sometimes associated with the notion that " the simplest possible explanation is the best ," a generalisation of Occam's Razor.

Occam's Razor is the first play in the series, written by Alan Stevens and Jim Smith.

Walter of Chatton was a contemporary of William of Ockham ( 1287 – 1347 ) who took exception to Occam's razor and Ockham's use of it.

Thus there is no way of discerning which, if any, ethical properties exist ; by Occam's Razor, the simplest assumption is that none do.

It is named after William of Ockham of Occam's Razor fame.

This explanation is more preferred under Occam's Razor than exogenesis since it theorizes that the creation of life is a matter of probability and can occur when the correct conditions are met rather than in exogenesis that assumes it is a singular event or that Earth did not meet those conditions on its own.

* 1285 – William of Ockham, English Franciscan to whom Occam's Razor is attributed ( approximate date ; d. 1349 )

Hence, Aquinas acknowledges the principle which today is known as Occam's Razor, but prefers causal explanations to other simple explanations ( cf.

Here he studied scholastic philosophy and theology at the Sorbonne under a pupil of William of Occam's, from whom he imbibed the nominalist conception of philosophy ; in addition he studied Canon law, medicine, astronomy and even magic, and apparently some Hebrew.

Laws of other fields of study include Occam's razor as a principle of philosophy and Say's law in economics.

Crabtree's Bludgeon is a foil to Occam's Razor ( law of parsimony ), and may be expressed so:

One important contribution that he made to modern science and modern intellectual culture was the principle of parsimony in explanation and theory building that came to be known as Occam's Razor.

* NIPS 2001 Workshop " Foundations of Occam's Razor and parsimony in learning "

* parsimony, as straightforward as the phenomena to be explained allow ( see Occam's razor );

In this respect, the principle of parsimony, or Occam's Razor, plays a role.

* parsimony ( Occam's razor )