Holmesian Maxim
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
The famous Holmesian Maxim.
Read a very nice article about it here. The important point being, of course, that for the answer to be right by the holmesian maxim, all the wrong options should be proved impossible. If not, the problem reduces to a choice between various improbable solutions, as opposed to an improbable vs. impossible situation. In this case, we cannot argue by saying that the less improbable of the two solutions is the conclusive answer. Of course, we could argue that the less improbable solution could be the more elegant solution, and satisfy the principles if Occam's razor. But the elegnt solution needn't be the correct solution, as is evident from the existance of quantom mechanics.
The famous Holmesian Maxim.
Read a very nice article about it here. The important point being, of course, that for the answer to be right by the holmesian maxim, all the wrong options should be proved impossible. If not, the problem reduces to a choice between various improbable solutions, as opposed to an improbable vs. impossible situation. In this case, we cannot argue by saying that the less improbable of the two solutions is the conclusive answer. Of course, we could argue that the less improbable solution could be the more elegant solution, and satisfy the principles if Occam's razor. But the elegnt solution needn't be the correct solution, as is evident from the existance of quantom mechanics.
posted by Raghav | 10:25 AM
1 Comments:
How does quantum mechanics advocate an inelegant, correct solution over an incorrect, elegant one? And which two solutions are these?
Post a Comment
<< Home