Another very common mistake is to summon up the Razor in a debate over a point that is entirely moot in order to add weight to a particular argument. This usage is entirely fallacious as the Razor does nothing more than recommend the hypothesis that makes the fewest new assumptions. It is not a magical tool that points to the right answer. In a lab it will be used hundreds or thousands of times, with each and every one of the chosen hypothesis being rigorously tested, before a correct answer is found. In a debate the Razor will be used once and will, invariably, choose the user's answer as the 'right' one. Funny, that.  Another problem thrown up in such situations is the scramble to determine whose theory is simplest and thus which one "benefits" from the application of the Razor.  For instance, in the perennial arguments about the existence of {{God}}, the theists claim that the universe is so complex that for it to have come into existence without God is more unlikely than the atheist position: that a being so powerful as to create, maintain, and meddle in something as complex as the universe would Himself have to be even more complex, especially if He inhabits an unknowable supernatural dimension.  Reams of books have been written on such questions.

23rd Feb '13 1:47:28 PM StarSword

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19th Feb '13 1:31:58 PM ztlawton

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11th Feb '13 9:56:38 PM Tdarcos

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In short, when trying to examine an incident to figure out why it happened, a simple answer involving the commonplace and reasonable is more likely to be correct. Note: ''more likely'', not ''always likely.'' For decades, doctors presumed that people got stomach ulcers because of stress and bad diet, which was more likely to be the case, and thus encouraging people to reduce the conditions that caused them to be exposed to stress, and to eat a bland diet, were reasonable treatments for people with stomach ulcers, until it was discovered that viruses were the true cause of most stomach ulcers, meaning stress and diet had absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you got a stomach ulcer.

Occam's Razor is the bane of {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s everywhere for the same reason: take a look at the Apollo moon landings, which a good percentage, in the single figures, believe was hoaxed. Often people will find "evidence" that the landings could never have taken place, but it rests on the arguments that the US government:

2nd Jan '13 6:57:05 PM TropeEater

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2nd Jan '13 6:56:12 PM TropeEater

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2nd Jan '13 6:45:53 PM TropeEater

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