What does Ockham’s Razor in Network Design really mean?

Ockham's Razor, Truth, and Information

In science, one faces the problem of selecting the true theory from a range of alternative theories. The typical response is to select the simplest theory compatible with available evidence, on the authority of “Ockham’s Razor”. But how can a fixed bias toward simplicity help one find possibly complex truths? A short survey of standard answers to this question reveals them to be either wishful,...

A Close Shave with Realism: How Ockham's Razor Helps Us Find The Truth

Many distinct theories are compatible with current experience. Scientific realists recommend that we choose the simplest. Anti-realists object that such appeals to “Ockham’s razor” cannot be truth-conducive, since they lead us astray in complex worlds. I argue, on behalf of the realist, that always preferring the simplest theory compatible with experience is necessary for efficient convergence ...

Ockham’s Razor, Hume’s Problem, Ellsberg’s Paradox, Dilation, and Optimal Truth Conduciveness

Classical Bayesianism represents ignorance, if at all, by flatness of prior probabilities. Such probabilities are an essential part of the standard Bayesian explanation of Ockham’s razor. But flatness as a model of ignorance is called into question by Ellsberg’s paradox, which has led to the consideration of incoherent or inexact degrees of belief, both of which undermine the usual explanation ...

Learning, Simplicity, Truth, and Misinformation

Both in learning and in natural science, one faces the problem of selecting among a range of theories, all of which are compatible with the available evidence. The traditional response to this problem has been to select the simplest such theory on the basis of “Ockham’s Razor”. But how can a fixed bias toward simplicity help us find possibly complex truths? I survey the current, textbook answer...

SERIE RESEARCH MEMORANDA Williamson’s ‘New institutional Economics’: a case for applying Ockham’s Razor