Logical razor - Revision history

DavidB4-bot: /* Occam's duct tape */Spelling, grammar, and general cleanup

2017-07-15T05:48:28Z

Occam's duct tape: Spelling, grammar, and general cleanup

Koidevelopment at 02:15, May 18, 2017

2017-05-18T02:15:48Z

1990'sguy: Fixes, including grammar and POV.

2017-05-18T01:52:18Z

Fixes, including grammar and POV.

Koidevelopment: /* Occam's duct tape */

2017-05-18T00:57:30Z

Occam's duct tape

Koidevelopment at 00:54, May 18, 2017

2017-05-18T00:54:25Z

Koidevelopment: Oh, but I did de-snark it

2017-05-18T00:52:47Z

Oh, but I did de-snark it

Koidevelopment: Created with original work from RW. Check if you don't believe me

2017-05-18T00:52:00Z

Created with original work from RW. Check if you don't believe me

New page

A '''logical razor''' is a short, rational principle used to shave off possible but unrealistic or unlikely explanations for a given phenomena. Common examples include Occam's razor and Alder's razor.

==Common razors==
Below is a short and non-comprehensive list of logical razors.

===Occam's razor===
{{main|Occam's razor}}

{{cquote|''"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate"'', or plurality should not be posited without necessity.|||[[William of Occam]]<ref>http://skepdic.com/occam.html</ref>}}
Occam's razor was formulated by William of Occam. In short, it states that the hypothesis that makes the least assumptions is the best answer for the phenomena. Note: Occam's razor does ''not'' say that the more simple a hypothesis, the better.<ref>http://skepdic.com/occam.html</ref>

===Occam's duct tape===
Also known as '''Occam's Krazy Glue''', '''Occam's Stapler'''<ref>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=oovi8sdv</ref>, or '''The Law of Conservation of Detail'''<ref>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheLawOfConservationOfDetail</ref> this is pretty much the exact opposite of Occam's razor - it involves making as many unnecessary and irrelevant assumptions as possible.

===Alder's razor===
{{main|Logical positivism}}

This razor was formulated by Mike Alder and is better known by its correct name, '''Newton's flaming laser sword'''. It says that whatever cannot be settled by experimentation is not worth debate.<ref>[[Hypocrisy|Interestingly enough, this very statement can't be tested by experimentation]], [[Handwave|but whatever, y'know?]]</ref>

===Crabtree's bludgeon===
{{cquote|No set of mutually inconsistent observations can exist for which some human intellect cannot conceive a coherent explanation, however complicated|||Crabtree<ref>[http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d8233 At the Christmas party], ''British Medical Journal''</ref>}}

Crabtree's bludgeon is an observation which serves as a foil to Occam's razor, characterizing a [[Ad hoc|very different cognitive process]] exhibited in certain kinds of people.

===Hanlon's razor===
{{cquote|Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.|||Robert J. Hanlon<ref>https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_J._Hanlon</ref>}}

This one's self-explanatory.

===Grice's razor===
{{cquote|As a principle of parsimony, conversational implications are to be preferred over semantic context for linguistic explanations.|||Grice, we think?<ref>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicature/</ref>}}

Basically, when in a conversation, prefer what the speaker meant over what the sentence she spoke literally meant.

===Hume's razor===
{{main|David Hume}}

{{cquote|If the cause, assigned for any effect, be not sufficient to produce it, we must either reject that cause, or add to it such qualities as will give it a just proportion to the effect.|||Hume<ref>Miles, Murray Lewis. "Chapter 31: The Undoing of Divine Justice." ''Inroads: Paths in Ancient and Modern Western Philosophy''. Toronto: U of Toronto, 2003. 531. Print. Section 31.5.3, Hume's Razor.</ref>}}

The cause must be proportionate to the effect it produces.

===Hitchens's razor===
{{main|Christopher Hitchens}}

{{cquote|''Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur'', or what can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.|||Christopher Hitchens<ref>https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hitchens%27s_razor</ref>}}

This short-but-sweet razor asserts that the burden of proof regarding the truthfulness of a claim lies with the one who makes the claim and that if this burden is not met, the claim is unfounded and its opponents need not argue further in order to dismiss it.

==References==
<references/>

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ===Occam's duct tape===
-Also known as '''Occam's Krazy Glue''' or '''Occam's Stapler'''<ref>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=oovi8sdv</ref>, this is pretty much the exact opposite of Occam's razor – it involves making as many unnecessary and irrelevant assumptions as possible.
+Also known as '''Occam's Krazy Glue''' or '''Occam's Stapler''',<ref>http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/discussion.php?id=oovi8sdv</ref> this is pretty much the exact opposite of Occam's razor – it involves making as many unnecessary and irrelevant assumptions as possible.
 ===Alder's razor===

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 {{main|Logical positivism}}
-This razor was formulated by Mike Alder and is better known by its correct name, '''Newton's flaming laser sword'''. It says that whatever cannot be settled by experimentation is not worth debate.<ref>This statement itself cannot be tested by experimentation, likely making it an example of [[hypocrisy]].</ref>
+This razor was formulated by Mike Alder and is better known by its correct name, '''Newton's flaming laser sword'''. It says that whatever cannot be settled by experimentation is not worth debate.<ref>This statement itself cannot be tested by experimentation, making it an example of [[hypocrisy]].</ref>
 ===Crabtree's bludgeon===
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 {{cquote|As a principle of parsimony, conversational implications are to be preferred over semantic context for linguistic explanations.|||Grice, we think?<ref>https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/implicature/</ref>}}
-Basically, when in a conversation, prefer what the speaker meant over what the sentence he/she spoke literally meant.
+Basically, when in a conversation, prefer what the speaker meant over what the sentence he or she spoke literally meant.
 ===Hume's razor===

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 {{main|Logical positivism}}
-This razor was formulated by Mike Alder and is better known by its correct name, '''Newton's flaming laser sword'''. It says that whatever cannot be settled by experimentation is not worth debate.<ref>[[Hypocrisy|Interestingly enough, this very statement can't be tested by experimentation]], [[Handwave|but whatever, y'know?]]</ref>
+This razor was formulated by Mike Alder and is better known by its correct name, '''Newton's flaming laser sword'''. It says that whatever cannot be settled by experimentation is not worth debate.<ref>[[Hypocrisy|Interestingly enough, this very statement can't be tested by experimentation]], but whatever, y'know?</ref>
 ===Crabtree's bludgeon===
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 ==References==
 <references/>

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 {{cquote|''"Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate"'', or plurality should not be posited without necessity.|||[[William of Occam]]<ref>http://skepdic.com/occam.html</ref>}}
-Occam's razor was formulated by William of Occam. In short, it states that the hypothesis that makes the least assumptions is the best answer for the phenomena. Note: Occam's razor does ''not'' say that the more simple a hypothesis, the better.<ref>http://skepdic.com/occam.html</ref>
+Occam's razor was formulated by William of Occam. In short, it states that the hypothesis that makes the least assumptions is the best answer for the phenomena. Note that Occam's razor does ''not'' say that the more simple a hypothesis, the better.<ref>http://skepdic.com/occam.html</ref>
 ===Occam's duct tape===