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Originally Posted by Mustex
I looked it up, and it was the Law of Parsimony, or Occam's Razor. Here's a quote from stardestroyer.net:
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If it said it was the "Law" of Parsimony, then I would question the source. Parsimony is a principle (also known as the Principle of Economy), and not one that the entire scientific community supports, partly because of its metaphysical nature. Ockham’s (I prefer the modern spelling of his home town) Razor is a statement of the principle that he used in his studies, and it says “Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate'', which means “entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily''. That’s a long way from "if you can't provide evidence something is happening, it probably isn't."
Mr. Wong’s arguments are interesting and insightful, but hardly conclusive. Historical counter: What causes disease? In the 16th century it was KNOWN that disease was a result of one of two things; bad humors, or miasma. They didn’t have a clue as to the existence of bacteria or viruses. That doesn’t mean that bacteria or viruses didn’t exist.
The principle discussed, and a great many others are part of a branch of philosophy (Epistemology), and while they are meant to be used as tools in scientific thought, many consider it dangerous to use them as foundations for that thought.
my 2p JJR
