
“With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.”
Variant: The simplest explanation is usually the right one
Source: Deception Point
“With all things being equal, the simplest explanation tends to be the right one.”
Variant: The simplest explanation is usually the right one
“The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.”
“When a constraint exists advantage can usually be taken of it.”
Source: An Introduction to Cybernetics (1956), Part 2: Variety, p. 130
The Concept of Nature (1919), Chapter VII, p.143 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/18835/18835-h/18835-h.htm#CHAPTER_VII.
1910s
Context: The aim of science is to seek the simplest explanations of complex facts. We are apt to fall into the error of thinking that the facts are simple because simplicity is the goal of our quest. The guiding motto in the life of every natural philosopher should be, "Seek simplicity and distrust it."