# Throw Out Your Assumptions

Occam's razor. If there are more assumptions, the probability of
all being simultaneously true will be lower, and the theory will
be less general and more complex. So choose a hypothesis that
assumes the least.

This razor is not only for theories. It is much more general. For
example, if a plan or a method requires many steps (Let's dismiss
the size of each step for simplicity), that means it assumes all
the steps will succeed. Thus the probability of total success will
be lower than a simple plan or method. Similarily, if a tool has
many parts, it is more likely to fail than a simple tool. And a
tool for specific situations is less useful than a tool for general
situations. Because it assumes more.

So this is more like a worldview. Maybe I could call it "logical
minimalism". But the principle is simple. It's just

Throw out your assumptions.