Occam’s Razor - KISS

Here is a guiding principle I think many in the fitness field miss the boat on

Occam’s Razor popularized by William of Ockham is a guiding principle used to shave away unlikely or un-useful explanations for models, theories, or deciding between two decisions.

It says, when two things explain a phenomenon equally well, the one with fewer assumptions is better. It is best to “shave away” anything overly complicated.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily say which is true but is used as a rule of thumb that guides people when developing or choosing between two different theories or models.

By definition, all assumptions introduce possibilities for error. If an assumption does not improve the accuracy of the theory, it’s only effect is to increase the probability the overall theory is wrong.

This also protects against ad hoc hypothesis where one just adds additional explanation to make an old theory correct again. As this will just add further assumptions making it less likely to be true.

An easy example of this is as follows; It is raining and you see a bright flash through your curtains.

Of these two possible explanations a) lightning, or b) UFOs are trying to abduct your neighbor, explanation "a" is more likely.

When we are talking theories here we can really expand that to any decision we make as a coaches or clinicians (think things like programming and exercise choice decisions) or any time we try to explain something that has just happened (think things like “why did my client get hurt?”)

In conclusion, always pick simpler solutions since they are more likely to be correct than complex ones.

KISS - Keep it simple stupid