10 November 2021

Four-Blade Razor

“Razors” are critical thinking tools designed to “shave away” complexity, and some are especially useful. Stay sharp with Turtle’s new four-blade razor!

1. Occam’s Razor: The simplest explanation is often the best.
2. Hanlon’s Razor: Never attribute to malice what can be attributed to laziness.
3. Hitchen’s Razor: If asserted without evidence, it can be dismissed without evidence.
4. Alder’s Razor: If it can’t be settled with experiment or observation, it’s unworthy of debate.

Razors are useful but dangerous. As most people don’t shave off their eyebrows, not all situations require a razor. Hard subjects are ripe for razors: Science, math, business. Soft subjects aren’t: Human behavior, literature, topics of faith. If you come to nuanced issues with a razor, you might hurt yourself and others.