For instance, the telos of wood was to make fire, the telos of fire was to warm humans, and the telos of humans was to worship God. Further complicating matters, every object was also considered to possess an invisible final cause, or telos. Gods or angels pulled the sun, moon and planets across the sky evil spirits unleashed illness or famine. Supernatural forces could be invoked at will to explain observed phenomena. The predominant belief then (as in most cultures in most times) was that there was no separation between science and religion. William of Ockham developed his razor to cut away at the intricate worldview he encountered when he arrived at the University of Oxford around 1320. Applied in a knowing way, Ockham’s razor can help us see through falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and sloppy reasoning. ![]() Fundamentally, it is a rule for understanding probabilities, distinguishing likely scenarios from unlikely ones. It does not mean that reality is simple, nor that valid scientific explanations should seem simple to us. Seven hundred years later, Ockham’s razor ranks among the most influential ideas in the history of science, yet it remains widely misunderstood. He risked his life to wield his razor as a force of reason against the religious philosophy of his age. It sounds convenient, but is it useful? A young Franciscan friar called William (1287–1347), from the village of Ockham, England, certainly thought so. Ockham’s razor is the principle that the most economical way of looking at the world is probably the correct one: Given a choice of solutions to a problem, we should opt for the simplest one that works.
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