Crabtree's Bludgeon
Encyclopedia
Crabtree's Bludgeon is a foil to Occam's Razor
(law of parsimony), and may be expressed so:
"No set of mutually inconsistent observations can exist for which some human intellect cannot conceive a coherent explanation, however complicated."
Its origin is obscure, but appears to be associated with R. V. Jones
and may appear in the Crabtree Orations, a set of academic commentaries attributed to the fictitious poet, Joseph Crabtree
, after whom the Crabtree Foundation is named.
Occam's razor
Occam's razor, also known as Ockham's razor, and sometimes expressed in Latin as lex parsimoniae , is a principle that generally recommends from among competing hypotheses selecting the one that makes the fewest new assumptions.-Overview:The principle is often summarized as "simpler explanations...
(law of parsimony), and may be expressed so:
"No set of mutually inconsistent observations can exist for which some human intellect cannot conceive a coherent explanation, however complicated."
Its origin is obscure, but appears to be associated with R. V. Jones
R. v. Jones
R. v. Jones, [1986] 2 S.C.R. 284 is an early leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the freedom of religion under section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the right to security of person under section 7.-Background:...
and may appear in the Crabtree Orations, a set of academic commentaries attributed to the fictitious poet, Joseph Crabtree
Joseph Crabtree (polymath)
Joseph Crabtree is the name of a late 18th / early 19th century poet and polymath revealed in the early 1950s by scholars at University College London. In February 1954 Professor James Sutherland, delivered an oration to a group of interested scholars which was entitled “Homage to Crabtree”...
, after whom the Crabtree Foundation is named.
See also
- UnderdeterminationUnderdeterminationIn scientific theory, underdetermination refers to situations where the evidence available is insufficient to identify which belief we should hold about that evidence...
- Ad hoc hypothesis
- Cognitive biasCognitive biasA cognitive bias is a pattern of deviation in judgment that occurs in particular situations. Implicit in the concept of a "pattern of deviation" is a standard of comparison; this may be the judgment of people outside those particular situations, or may be a set of independently verifiable...