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Topic: To sleep like a baby (Read 1984 times) |
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Cathos
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #25 on: Mar 6th, 2004, 12:43pm » |
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Indeed, I am a tree. (though squid would make just as much sense, I didn't realize the word had 2 meanings)
I took about 3 1/2 years of Latin, and that was some time ago, so most of the quotes are lost on me. Mostly I just remember simply vocabulary and some expressions, which I try to put to use so I sound smart. 
So, referencing Occam's Razor is just a sopisticated way of saying "the simpleist answer is probably the best answer". Why 'Razor'? Why not Occam's Principle, or Occam's Theory or whatever? I guess Eistein took Newton's use of Occam's Razor cum grano salis, eh?
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| « Last Edit: Mar 6th, 2004, 12:44pm by Cathos » |
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Sir Col
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #26 on: Mar 6th, 2004, 2:00pm » |
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Indeed!
But interestingly, Einstein also said, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
It's called "razor" because, as a principle, we shave away what is superfluous, reducing it to what is absolutely necessary.
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SWF
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #27 on: Mar 6th, 2004, 2:49pm » |
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Waking up a snorer makes some sense, but I also think it doesn't fit with being nervous and sweating. He should become even more nervous after calling, if it occurs to him that they neighbor may have caller ID on his phone.
Is it still Occam's Razor if you shave off some of the conditions of the question? 
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Speaker
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #28 on: Mar 7th, 2004, 7:26pm » |
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SWF, that always seems to work for me, just change the question to suit your answer. 
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pedronunezmd
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #29 on: Jun 20th, 2004, 5:56pm » |
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In medical school, we use the expression "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" as our version of Occam's Razor. (When in USA of course, think horses, but when in other parts of the world, maybe zebras.)
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Three Hands
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #30 on: Jun 20th, 2004, 9:33pm » |
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Ironically enough, although Occam's Razor is often associated with philosophy, it is very rarely actually used in philosophical discussions (at least, I haven't run into it much at all during the first year of university, and a lecturer did comment about this). Instead, it is a much more popular tool in science.
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Speaker
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #31 on: Jun 20th, 2004, 9:36pm » |
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Not only science, but detectivology also.
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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. <Ben Franklin>
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Grimbal
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #32 on: Jun 21st, 2004, 5:43am » |
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on Jun 20th, 2004, 9:36pm, Speaker wrote:| Not only science, but detectivology also. |
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Isn't it also science?
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Speaker
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #33 on: Jun 21st, 2004, 10:48pm » |
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Sure, its a science. Actually, I was trying to think of some concrete examples of detectives using this technique, but couldn't.
Sherlock Holmes eliminated the impossible in order to find the truth, no matter how improbable.
Hercule Poirot based his detections on human nature, and the theory that; it is impossible to go against our own human nature.
Columbo badgered people into confessing...
Can anybody think of some examples?
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towr
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #34 on: Jun 22nd, 2004, 12:57am » |
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They explicitly mentioned Occam's razor in CSI once, I think..
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Bwa!
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #35 on: Jul 21st, 2004, 6:42pm » |
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I was also thinking snoring, but I thought he was just a very nervous man in general, so he thought the snoring was some kind of night-beast. Really, your own imagination is the scariest thing you can ever see.
Like right now...If it's dark, just imagine a zombie closing in behind you...Don't turn around...it's all muddy, and disgusting, with sharp claws, it looks like it wants to eat you alive at any cost, don't turn around...now...I can see it...its hands are closing in...closing in around your neck, closer, closer...
*typical public domain scream*
Now if you imagine that in a scary voice, in a serious darkness...
Well, that actually scared me while I was typing it. 
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Icarus
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Re: To sleep like a baby
« Reply #36 on: Aug 9th, 2004, 8:17pm » |
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on Jun 21st, 2004, 10:48pm, Speaker wrote:| Sherlock Holmes eliminated the impossible in order to find the truth, no matter how improbable. |
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But I have to agree with Dirk Gently: Sometimes the impossible makes far more sense than the highly improbable.
I.e. When the only possible solutions are highly improbable, it is time to re-examine whether the "impossible" might be possible after all.
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And e is just as cursed.
I wonder: Which is larger
When their digits are reversed? " - Anonymous
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