Wednesday Wisdom

Who?

William of Ockham was a Franciscan theologian and philosopher who was born in 1285 in Ockham which is believed to now be Surrey England. As a Franciscan, he was schooled under the interpretations of St Francis of Assisi, where poverty, devotion, and logic were emphasized. He later attended Oxford University where he continued to pursue his passion for learning, especially on the subject of logic.

What?

Ockham moved to Avignon France at the behest of the Pope to study Papal Bulls, which is a decree or edict by the Pope. During this period his writings straddled his love of logic and theology. He also came to conflict with the Papacy over the issue of Jesus and his disciples and whether they owned their property or renounced those rights as the Franciscans believed. This belief in poverty and Christ further escalated with Pope John PaulXXII when Ocham also wrote about the limits of Papal power, which led to Ocham being excommunicated. Ockham's ability to think logically and in the simplest terms led to the development of what is now known as the Occam Razor(shortcut). According to him, simplicity is more important than complexity: of two competing theories, the simpler should be preferred.

Why should you care?

If you have followed my posts, I recently discussed Descartes and his writings on First Principle thinking as well as Cartesian Doubt when it comes to problem-solving. Ockham also gave a problem-solving technique that was simple but eloquent. "Occam's Razor" was born out of his Franciscan principles of poverty and his love of logic. In a world of ever-increasing noise and complexity, using"Occams Razor" provides clarity. This is a bottom-up way to solve problems by identifying symptoms and systematically addressing each one. Why start with the most complex problems rather than singling out the easiest to define? Physicians love this approach and use this when encountering multiple symptoms to find the root cause of a disease. Scientists like Newton, Einstein, and Hawkings have all used "Occam Razor" in their problem-solving. Einstein used Occam Razor when developing his "theory of relativity" formulating " It can scarcely be denied that the supreme goal of all theory is to make irreducible basic elements as simple and few as possible without representation of a single datum of experience". Why is Occam Razor still relevant? Solving by identifying the simplest root cause can save time and money.

Thank you William of Ockham for keeping us level-headed in the 21st century.

And now you know:

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.