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  1. Path: sparky!uunet!think.com!barmar
  2. From: barmar@think.com (Barry Margolin)
  3. Newsgroups: comp.misc
  4. Subject: Re: What is Occam's Razor
  5. Date: 18 Aug 1992 23:36:43 GMT
  6. Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge MA, USA
  7. Lines: 12
  8. Message-ID: <16s1ibINN1uj@early-bird.think.com>
  9. References: <6291@ucru2.ucr.edu>
  10. NNTP-Posting-Host: telecaster.think.com
  11.  
  12.  
  13. Occam's Razor is the rule that the simplest theory that accurately explains
  14. all the facts is the one that should be accepted.  For instance, when
  15. explaining the apparent motion of the planets in the night sky, there were
  16. two competing theories: Earth-centered and Sun-centered.  The latter was
  17. accepted because its elliptical orbits are much simpler than the former's
  18. complex arrangement of epicycles.
  19. -- 
  20. Barry Margolin
  21. System Manager, Thinking Machines Corp.
  22.  
  23. barmar@think.com          {uunet,harvard}!think!barmar
  24.