Question

What's known as the Occams' razor principle and how does it apply to the construction of a model?

Answer 1

occam's Razor (ockham's Razor) 1)It is called as Law of EcO 2)It says "entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity". 3) Another form of the principle is "plurality should not be posited without necessity" the Law of Parsimony, or the Principle of Parsimony How it helps constructing mode: 1)when applied to the construction of theories explaining a phenomenon in the event that competing hypotheses provide contradictory explanations, the one that uses the east theoretical assumptions is probably the more accurate 2)If a detective is reconstructing the facts of a murder, the "theory" of the crime will be the one that best fits the facts and is usually the simplest hypothesis This principle agrees with the philosophy of science's understanding that nature's character is simple 3)occam's razor is used in philosophy, learning theory, econometrics, public policy choices and other disciplines. In public policy choices the principle is used by analysts to show that self-interest motivates voters and that the desire for reelection motive legislators, both of which are the simplest explanations for voter and legislator behavior 4)Econometrics uses occam's razor in labor economics, financial operations studies, resource allocations, and other areas as an aided method for discovery, problem solving, or learning 5)It is applied as the principle that what works ll and is simple will probably work best in decisions concerning poverty funding for the developing wor 1d 6)currently occam's razor is a characteristic of alife (artificial life) studies of ecological systems. Alife uses computers, simulations and other techniques in an information systems "bottom up" approach to study the ecology associated with living organisms and how they interact with their environment