Occam’s Dull Razor
The language of medical practice or technical sciences is a double-edged sword. In layman’s lingo, it hangs over the lexicon, a language of saying complex theories in simplified ways. And that isn’t easy. Every individual has a different solution to the same problem. It’s a mathematical formula that only works if you understand how to solve puzzles. If you’re looking for a clean, close shave or a short definition of Occam’s razor, choose the short answer instead of a long-winded one to solve a difficult problem. The simpler solution is always preferable. Differentiate the floral from the fauna. In easy, practical terms, picking the short answer from the elaborate, drawn-out one. But it could be the wrong answer. Or only half the story. Could that razor be duller than a butter knife trying to slice a tough steak? That’s the dilemma of Occam’s razor. A stab in the dark. A paper cut.
Who was it that exclaimed, “An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way”? An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. In other words, keep it simple, stupid. Nobody's talking to anyone. They also said, “Almost everyone is born a genius and buried an idiot.” Figure it out if you can. Trying to make sense out of nonsense is a lifelong pursuit. There are no absolute truths about anything except birth, life, death, and taxes. At least that’s what our fathers taught us. That was a different story. Even that’s up for debate.
For the sake of argument, let’s say it’s not true but widely accepted as a fact. Love and hate are variables along the way. Hunger manifests itself in many forms. Gluttony’s the skeleton key to eating too much, too fast. Thirst traps the drinker in a hurry to drink. It’s all relative to how much you drink to quench your thirst. Abstinence is encouraged by all who can’t tolerate drinking. It’s a matter of choice, whether to drink or not is the question. Everything’s in moderation, including moderation. How’s that working out for you? The fight or flight situation.
I’ve never been very good at mathematics or business practice, but a simple way to get to know the answers is to consider that the opposite of the term acumen is stupidity. You’re looking at a Venn diagram, a graph illustration of concentric circles that overlap in a series of different ways to describe a particular problem. Let’s begin the process with Occam’s razor at the center, whereas the other circles around it converge. Each circle represents a theoretical point, like the theory of Schrödinger’s cat on the left. Is the cat dead or alive? Who cares, and why would you experiment with radioactive materials? It interlocks with Munchhausen Syndrome on the right, a mental disorder that feigns medical illness. Above those circles is Stockholm Syndrome, in which a victim sympathizes with their physical or mental abuser.
Below is another circle of the Overview Effect, wherein, watching the earth from outer space, one may confess they can’t identify with a specific race, border, or culture. They see all humans on earth as one people, living together in one world. It sounds like a good idea. Coca-Cola commercial. We could use a lot more of that now. Let’s overlap that next to the Theory of Relativity or spooky action from a distance. You can take your loopy, lofty fantasy somewhere else. A theory of entanglement in reality, mere information, or way too much overkill. A really boring subject. I could ramble on, but I’ll spare you the vital details of adding more examples and then talk in circles.
In order to make sense out of nonsense in a meaningfully perceived meaningless world, we need answers to help explain the how and why of being here now or there as well. I’ve no clue. All this acuteness ness everywhere. There are plenty of theories rolling around about that, but I don’t want to speculate. It’s educated guesses and clueless garbage about what happened, as opposed to what is actually going on. What’s happening? I haven’t the foggiest notion. Perhaps you could enlighten me.
The examined life gives no notion of a personal sense of place; it’s a void in which the vastness of space has come to pass into timelessness. You know that old yarn about being in two places at the same time? Wait, it gets better. Space is the place, after all. The Eternity Principle cuts through all that like a straight razor. Sometimes forever outlasts the eternal meaning of mystery. Wherever mysterious creatures congregate. And wonder how many times to arrive at the same conclusion. An everlasting epiphany. Your own existential sleepwalk into a dreadful memory. Little lumps of clay mishandled to be treated badly. Go fight somebody.