Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for June 08, 2023

Who came up with the idea for Occam’s Razor? It’s not the obvious, William of Ockham. So that idea lost it’s credibility.

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The first known usage was by Durandus of Saint-Pourçain.

Yeah, I don’’t know about that Occam’s razor stuff. In my experience the right answer is usually right. Simple has nothing to do with it.

In my experience Occam’s Razor is whichever explanation requires the fewest assumptions. A Google search on “Carl Sagan invisible dragon” (without the quotes) does a good job of explaining it.

A Hole Is To Dig.

Occam’s razor was rather bloodied when he shaved without the best shaving cream!

What is it called when the (so-called) “obvious” is obviously not so obvious or very obvious (at all)?

And just how are they going to get him out of the hole ?

Our dachshund loved to dig. Toward the end, I think she lived to dig.

I just read that bias (which we inherently possess) is a force.

Should have changed the blade on his Occam’s Razor years ago.

I wasn’t too sure about Occam’s Razor, but I remember Schrödinger’s Paradox. Saw it many times on reruns of BBT.

It’s a parallel to Sherlock Holmes’ theory. i.e., once you have eliminated the impossible, “whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth”.

[see Lexicology at https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a26be156-7f82-429e-9477-ccf9ca2e5487]

Look at all the big feet!

My dad told me that he had a dog out on the ranch that dug itself down into a gopher hole and then couldn’t get out. He didn’t find the dog for months.

If you don’t utilize Occam’s razor, sometimes you have to deal with the Sword of Damocles.

The late great hound Mr. Duke before tearing into grass and dirt always tilted his head back and forth as if to get a better listen from what lay below. He never caught anything just the same.

If he strikes oil, I get half

What you’ve got going here, Jeffrey, is not a theory, it’s a hypothesis, which is a candidate being tested against reality to see if it can eventually earn the status of theory, which is an explanation so well supported by evidence that it’s pretty much universally accepted by scientists as true. Examples include the theory of optics, the germ theory of disease, the atomic theory of matter, the molecular theory of thermodynamics, the theory of relativity, the continental-plate theory of tectonics, the theory of gravitation, the natural-selection theory of evolution, and so on.

With respect to the word “the” in front of “theory”, scientists understand that, in each case, there’s really only a single, widely accepted explanation for all the observable phenomena, so they feel justified in using the definite article. Contrast that with quantum mechanics, which nobody really understands or has a good explanation for. Nobody ever talks about the theory of quantum mechanics (or even a theory); all we have are observations that nobody can make any sense out of.

Maybe he dug it for the same reason that guy climbed Mt Everest, “Because It’s There”. :)

He heard them speaking Chinese.

I used Occam’s razor to try and shave Schrödinger’s cat.

It didn’t go as planned.

Oh well, back to the Autocad. (No one uses drawing boards anymore.)

The obvious thing is that Petey is now down in a hole and can’t get himself out.

I think the minimal assumption is that Petey likes to dig holes.

Those Jack Russells: If bored for a minute they will find or invent a task.

I never knew the appeal of a sleeping Bigfoot tribe, until now

Bigfoots sleeping in the hole is at least plausible, but yetis sleeping there would just be silly!

Since the horse can talk with Petey and Danae, the obvious solution is to ask the horse.

These last couple strips have been great because they’ve elicited so many very humorous responses! Thanks to you all, as well as Wiley!!

He smelled something fetid to roll in.

Occam’s Razor – the simplest explanation that adequately explains an event is most likely true.

Murphey’s blunt instrument – the explanation that involves the longest sequence of improbable events and has the most conspirators is most likely to be believed.

Occam’s razor, when Occam opened the box he saw the cat had slit it’s own throat with the razor…

Jack Russell terrier is all you need to know.

Last time I used one of Occam’s razors to shave my legs, I kept nicking my ankles and bleeding. Went back to my usual brand.

Hey! Maybe he found Morlocks? Could be.

https://timemachine.fandom.com/wiki/Morlocks

My friends have always had Jack Russell’s; pretty sure Danae is right in this instance.

Occam’s razor is absolute nonsense.

And just by capitalizing the opposite is true.

He does that deliberately to see the look on their faces.

Danae: “Why did you dig a hole?” Petey: “Because it wasn’t there.”

Speaking of being in a deep hole, tRump was indicted on federal charges today.

Did he turn qupublican?

the interpretation and application of Occam’s razor can be quite controversial.