Hensley Arrow: How does it REALLY work?

Stressor wrote:
Remember: Occam's razor is also called the principle of parsimony. These days it is usually interpreted to mean something like "the simpler the explanation, the better" or "don't multiply hypotheses unnecessarily." William's Web site.

Milt,

You provided a link to "the Skeptic's Dictionary". If you look around their site you'll find "A Practical Guide to Critical Thinking". I would bet it would make an interesting read to you. In it you'll find that the first step is introduced like this:

Step 1: Adopt the Attitude of a Critical Thinker

The first step to becoming a proficient critical thinker is developing the proper attitude.
Such an attitude embodies the following characteristics:

· Open-mindedness
· Healthy skepticism
· Intellectual humility
· Free thinking
· High motivation

...

You may or may not subscribe to the critical thinking philosophy, but I believe you are an open-minded person and you certainly have a healthy skepticism. I'm also certain that you'd be willing to let go of firmly held beliefs if sufficiently disproved. However, it doesn't always come across that way to me and I think that may explain why sometimes I don't follow you and/or may respond flippantly. I apologize for this.

It is clear that you have gone to great lengths to try to make your point, and we have put a fair effort into our attempt at a rebuttal. Neither side has made much headway and perhaps we never will, but I think it only detracts from our efforts in this thread when we insult the opposing viewpoint with flippant or sarcastic remarks. It's easy to get frustrated when trying to get agreement on a concept that's difficult to explain and visualize without pictures, video, and maybe even hands-on manipulation. Let's try to stay cognizant of that as we continue to add value to this thread.

Tim