No 35

(Ockham’s Razor)

Ockham’s Razor is a term scientists use when many hypotheses about a certain project are proposed, studied and/or rejected. Researchers discuss the validity of their respective experiments and debate about the flaws and features in each of them, sometimes with many heated arguments. In order to choose among all the possible theories this tool is often used to settle issues.

Ockham’s Razor is the principle proposed by William of Ockham, a monk in the 14^th century: “Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate”, which means “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily”. In the vernacular, it means “keep it simple”. Suppose you have two competing theories that describe the same system such as:

1. The planets move around the sun in ellipses because there is a force between any of them and the sun which decreases as the square of the distance.

2. The planets move around the sun in ellipses because there is a force between any of them and the sun which decreases as the square of the distance. This force is generated by the will of some powerful aliens.

Ockham’s Razor will cut the “excess baggage” about the aliens since both theories have the same outcome.

Because Occam's razor is sometimes called “the principle of simplicity” , some creationists have argued that Occam's razor can be used to support creationism over evolution. Having God create everything is much simpler than evolution, which is a very complex mechanism. But Occam's razor does not say that the more simple a hypothesis, the better. He did argue, however, that natural theology is impossible. Natural theology uses reason alone to understand God, as contrasted with revealed theology which is founded upon scriptural revelation. Therefore, Ockham was probably a believer. The Bible contains divine truth and the first verse says “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Simplicity is the key to understanding God’s highly complex principles.