Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Ockham's Razor

In logic and scientific thought, Ockham's Razor is the principle that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.  We use it as the basis for a silly, creative talking game.  I usually do the set up, but sometimes the kids will volunteer.  We imagine together a situation and then brainstorm as many wild explanations as we can for why that situation might exist.  After we've exhausted our ideas, we use Ockham's Razor to determine which explanation is the most likely.

By way of an example:

Imagine V can't find her snow boots on the shoe mat.

Maybe she didn't put them away last time she wore them, so they're by the door instead of on the mat.
Maybe a terrible monster was sad that it didn't have any snow boots, and Dad felt bad, so he gave the monster V's boots.
Maybe malicious fairies stole them.
Maybe she walked home in the snow without her boots on, so they're actually still at church.
Maybe a hungry dog crept into our house and ate them all up.
Maybe they got so wet that drying out caused them to shrink.
Maybe there was a tornado while we were sleeping and it blew the boots away.
Maybe Dad was careless cleaning up, so he threw the boots into the recycling bin.
Maybe Z was vacuuming in his sleep, and he vacuumed the boots up.
Maybe they were biodegradable boots, so they just dissolved.

What do you think?

1 comment:

  1. Maybe Mommy spent too much time reading Marie Kondo and threw them away because they didn't spark joy.

    ReplyDelete