Simplicity and the Quest of Truth

One of my favorite novel of all time is indisputably Sherlock Holmes. Holmes is charming, the ivory tower intellectual and unabashed genius. We often forget that behind the fictional character there is a real existence person, that is to say, sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the master mind that deserve our standing ovation. In one occasion, Holmes once says, "If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. "By eliminating the worst choice, we will arrive at the best choice. The idea of eliminating and cutting can help us to discover truth. Like searching for a treasure. The pirates or adventurers need to cut off the thick weeds surround the treasure box. 

In the history of science, there was a famous tools to use the tools of simplicity to narrow the possibility and decision making, for the quest of the probable truth. A Medieval philosophers of the 12th century by the name of William Occam made a very important principle known as Occam Razor's. As preliminary, the questions we might asked, what evidence to support that the simplest theory is the best theory? Does simplicity principle often lead to simplification? Occam's razor in nutshell is this (pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate) he says, "a plurality should never be posited without necessity." To understood this in a most simple way, whenever there are several possible theories, choose the simplest. The complex theories create more questions than aligning with the evidences. In modern parlance, "keep it simple!" Does the simplest is usually the best one? Does the simplest is the best is the best simply because is the simplest way of addressing the truth? (Circular argument). 

In respond to the Occam Razor principle, Francis Crick a biologist share a balance perspectives as he says, "While Occam Razor is a useful tool in the physical sciences, it can be very dangerous implement in biology." With this regard, Crick made a good point. We cannot paint the brush and says, all character is inherited and our will is determined. All living beings are moving with a fixed scripts simply because the idea of free will is too abstracts, complicated, in relation to mechanistic worldview of our nature that naturally amplify the idea of cause-effect. We also cannot just believe that all the sickness is due to the imbalance and disharmony of the hot and cold temperature in our body like what the 5th century philosopher agued (Other version is the Greek concept of the “four humors”: balance of four bodily fluids, black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood).

Or there is no other galaxy apart from our galaxy because two, three or four of galaxies added in the cosmos are indeed more complex than believing just one. Christian scientist also cannot just bring a simplicity principle and argue for God all the time to fill every gaps (the God of the Gap or God-Hypothesis). The attitude of attributing all the difficult answer and explanation to God is the thing that Laplace, a scientist averted in the past. The great mind like Newton also sometimes, apply this kind of approach. Newton wrote, "The six primary Planets are revolved about the Sun, in circles concentric with the Sun, and with motions directed towards the same parts, and almost in the same plane. […] But it is not to be conceived that mere mechanical causes could give birth to so many regular motions. […] This most beautiful System of the Sun, Planets, and Comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being." Responding to this, Leibniz give a quite harsh feedback to Newton's idea of motion. He wrote, "Sir Isaac Newton and his followers have also a very odd opinion concerning the work of God. According to their doctrine, God Almighty wants to wind up his watch from time to time: otherwise it would cease to move. He had not, it seems, sufficient foresight to make it a perpetual motion."

Although Truth is simple but we cannot simplify truth as to be the simplest. If we accept the Occam Razor's excessively, we can be a people who often fall into the prey of the conspiracy theory which frequently and cleverly bring all the complexity of our world into one simple scenario that is easy to grasp. The theme is clear, the powerful group is in control in the midst of complexity in our world.

 In of the article written by Phillip Ball he describes on How the Occam Razor has distorted science. He called this phenomena as "the tyranny of the simple explanations." He concluded in his article with this statement, "science is so difficult and messy, the allure of a philosophical tool for clearing a path or pruning the thickets is obvious. In their readiness to find spurious applications of Occam’s razor in the history of science, or to enlist, dismiss, or reshape the razor at will to shore up their preferences, scientists reveal their seduction by this vision. But they should resist it. The value of keeping assumptions to a minimum is cognitive, not ontological: It helps you to think. A theory is not “better” if it is simpler—but it might well be more useful, and that counts for much more."

 While simple and elegant can be a great mark of truth, this is not always be the case. In fact, if we think deeper, the crucifixion of Jesus is appeal to be more complex than cruci-fiction of Jesus. How can we say that God is dead? This is very complex to be explained. Therefore, truth is not always refer to the simplest explanations but the most cohere with the evidences. Wherever the evidences lead, we need to accept the truth even it is appear to be more complex.  In science there is another perspective to weight the truth apart from Occam Razor's famous principle. Bayesianism a theorem obtained by Thomas Bayes in 18 century is the one who has grown richer today. The theory is about the truth need to be influence by evidences we acquire. In this sense, the criteria of truth is not about the internal quality of a theory, whether it is simple or elegant but how it correspond to the old or new evidences. Bayesianism actually gives a better view, on how we need to enroll to the quest of truth. Evidences are the stairways to the truth, no matter how ugly and how complex the evidences. As the philosopher Walter Kaufmann explained, “What distinguishes knowledge is not certainty but evidence.” Logic and reason are the structure of stairways that holds the evidences. Moreover, it is quite difficult also to apply Occam Razor In the philosophical debate. Wittgenstein says that philosophers should avoid the easiest road, oversimplification attitude. He is right. Truth is multifaceted and not one dimensional. The one dimensional realm supposedly belongs to opinions. 

Today, as we all know there is a debate between atheism vs theism, idealism vs dualism, moral realism vs anti-realism, nominalism vs Platonism. The way we judge the philosophical argument is not base on the simplicity because both side of the argument are perplexingly complex and cerebral and often time, those who can give the most complex and logical argument is the better. Like what Einstein said, simplicity is not always by making complex things simpler. No wonder, the writing of the greatest and most brilliant philosophers are the one we cannot understand by reading in one occasion. We need to study them, scrutinize and use a helpful commentary, historical background. Takes years and not days to understand the great mind of the past. One could also say, if that so, I will directly choose the contrary position of famous philosopher for my position must be more simple, and hence is right and better! Moreover, if every proponent of the ideology would apply the Occam razors, what happened is just a mere subjectivity in contest. The proponent of Atheism will say, the simplest explanation of the world is best without the invisible God whereby Theism will say, the simplest explanation of the world is God not an evolutionary process. And we all know, both cannot be true. Both can only be all false. In sum, while the Simplicity can be a helpful tool to help us to discover truth, simplicity cannot be the only tools we have in discerning truth. Otherwise, the story of Holmes will be very dull and boring. Holmes will invariably conclude that the death victim that lies before him commit suicide!