“You gave too much rein to your imagination. Imagination is a good servant, and a bad master. The simplest explanation is always the most likely.”
― Agatha Christie

 

The Power of Occam’s Razor In Your Search For Knowledge

 

Do you want to learn something interesting or do you want the truth? Everyone will claim that they want the truth, but you would be amazed at how many people ignore the truth because it is boring. Do you want to sound smart or do you want to speak the truth? People will claim that they want to speak the truth, then to get all excited over theories of fantasy and can’t stop speaking about it. Let’s get down to the truth here, okay? The power of Occam’s razor in your search for knowledge is not an exciting idea and it probably won’t make you sound smart. However, you can know that you have the truth.

I believe it would be worth mentioning that education is worthless if it’s not true. This may go against what you have been taught, but imagine this. Imagine sitting behind the cockpit of an airplane. You’re now responsible for flying the plane, so it’s a good thing you went to pilot school. The thing is, in pilot school they taught you everything backwards. How do you think this is going to go? Education and knowledge needs to be based on truth. In your search for knowledge, truth should be your target.

 

What is Occam’s Razor

 

Occam’s Razor’s usual definition goes along the lines of, “The simplest explanation is usually the correct one.” It’s basically the idea that the truth is usually simple, logical, and easy to understand. This implies that anything that could be considered wild, berserko, far-fetched, batty, or imaginative is more likely than not incorrect. Occam’s Razor implies that truth is not complicated.

Imagine yourself as a police detective. You are just assigned to a robbery, and you’re determined to figure out what happened. Your partner brings in a list of possible solutions to how the bank robber escaped. “It’s either Bob, because his finger prints match the weapon we found, or it could be an alien invasion.” Which do you believe is the truth? Sure, this may sound like a silly example, but it happens every single day.

 

Search For Knowledge

 

You may be searching for knowledge, maybe something specific, or maybe you are a life long learner that desires to know more. In your life, you will be presented with a lot of knowledge that is controversial. You will come across a lot of information that is clouded in conspiracy, lies, manipulation, varied beliefs, or simply information that is unknown. You may desire to learn this knowledge. A wise person will not let the complexity of a topic scare him away.

Some topics are known to be especially hard to find absolute truth. Topics such as religion, science, conspiracy theories, politics, even history. A wise student should desire to learn the truth about such things. However, when studying these difficult topics, it is wise to have tools to help you. Something to keep you grounded in logic. Occam’s Razor is an extremely powerful tool that should be used when knowledge is uncertain.

As an example: Using Occam’s Razor, you will understand that Aliens did not create the pyramids. You can also eliminate that the pyramids are star travel teleportation devices. It would be far simpler and more logical to say that they were built by humans that either had knowledge that we do not currently have, or that humans had technology that we are now unaware of. This is by far easier to understand and easier to explain. However, many people will still deny this. Why? Because it is boring.

 

Search for knowledge Conclusion:

 

If you’re a student of knowledge, you will come across difficult topics eventually. I urge you to understand the power of Occam’s Razor in your search for knowledge because this is a tool that will guide you through difficult ideas. It’s a measuring stick that will keep you grounded in reality verses getting lost in fairy tale stories.

 

Resources

 

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