Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition

128 Ockham’s Razor

Given a choice between functionally equivalent designs, the simplest design should be selected.

Ockham’s razor asserts that given competing explanations, the simplest explanation is preferred. The principle is named after William of Ockham, a fourteenth-century Franciscan friar and logician who reputedly made abundant use of the principle. There is an aesthetic appeal to the principle, which likens the “cutting” of unnecessary complexity to getting closer to the truth.1

Many variations of Ockham’s razor exist, each adapted to address the particulars of a field or domain of knowledge. A few examples include:

Entities should not be multiplied without necessity.

— William of Ockham

Nature operates in the shortest way possible. ...