Ockham is linked to Occam’s razor by virtue of William of Ockham. But I believe that modern science has rather lost sight of the simple fact that simplicity is the sharpest guide to greater truths. It has been a tool for scientific progress, not to mention a guiding principle for our own thoughts, right up to the present day. If you see moving lights in the night sky, say, think of known existing entities such as aeroplanes, satellites or shooting stars before considering flying saucers. It urges us to choose the simplest explanations or models for any phenomenon we observe. The creation of a 14th-century theologian with a racy life story, this is a principle often quoted as “entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity”. Perhaps a slight difference in spelling is one reason why it took me a surprising while to realise the English village’s connection to one of the most fundamental concepts in science – I would argue, in my now more enlightened state, perhaps its most fundamental concept. Dan Keogh.ON MY daily drive into work at the University of Surrey, I pass a road sign to Ockham. But still, I shall continue to enjoy the philosophical red Occam's Razor. Robyn Williams: And I wish she'd said that it was our science program on ABC Radio National since 1984 that inspired her choice. You get some people that really do understand Ockham's Razor, but it's really interesting to see people try and describe it because generally, like myself, we all don't apply that principle to trying to explain the principle.ĭan Keogh: Well, maybe for those people it's just the wine that's doing the talking. Ever since naming the label, which even includes a quote from William of Ockham, she's been introducing the principle to wine drinkers across the country, some of whom could learn to take the razor to unnecessary chatter.Įmily Laughton: Look, they either know of the principle of Ockham's Razor and they talk to be about it, or they just think it's a really nice name. I don't want to keep it complicated, I want to do the minimal things possible to keep those very delicate flavours happening.ĭan Keogh: While she gets the principles for winemaking from her parents, Ron and Elva Laughton, who operate Jasper Hill Estate in the Heathcote region in central Victoria, Emily said she was introduced to the famous principle of William of Ockham by a close friend who happened to be a science enthusiast. But how exactly do you apply the law of parsimony to making wines?Įmily Laughton: With winemaking and the Ockham's Razor principle, flavours are really delicate, so the idea of the Ockham's Razor keeping it simple does preserve those delicate flavours. Emily Laughton runs the label Occam's Razor, an organic red wine produced according to the principles that entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity. But why would a winemaker name a red after a philosophy of science?ĭan Keogh: To paraphrase the 1995 comedy Kicking and Screaming, 'If Plato is a fine red wine and Aristotle is a dry martini, then surely William of Ockham is an organic shiraz.' And indeed the philosophy of the 14th century logician lives on in a bottle of red. There it was, a shiraz called Occam's Razor. Robyn Williams: Another job we gave Dan Keogh this week was to track down a wine I happened to see on the menu at one of my favourite restaurants.
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