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Tuesday, May 05, 2020

Occam Razor theory and Savant Syndrome

What's interesting about Kdrama's memorist*? After weighing different aspects, even though the drama is fictional, there are many interesting "terms" and facts. I think the scriptwriters for this drama are in-depth studies and "highly knowledgeable" and charismatic. What's interesting is that one of them is talking about the theory of "Occam Razor" and something about "Savant Syndrome". What's with the theory of Occam Razor and Savant Syndrome? Yes, this is a different thing.

The term "Occam's Razor" comes from a misspelling of the name William of Ockham. Ockham was a brilliant theologian, philosopher, and logician in the medieval period. One of his rules of thumb has become a standard guideline for thinking through issues logically. 

Occam's Razor is the principle that "do not multiply agents in theory beyond what is necessary." What does that mean? If two competing theories explain a single phenomenon, and both generally reach the same conclusion, and both are equally persuasive and convincing, and both explain the problem or situation in a satisfactory manner, the logician should always choose the less complex one.The one with the fewer moving parts, so to speak, is most likely to be correct. The idea is always to cut out extra unnecessary bits, hence the name "razor." An example will help to illustrate this.

Suppose you come home to find out your dog has escaped from the kennel, chewing large chunks out of the sofa. You have two possible theories.

(1) The number one explanation is that you failed to lock the kennel door, and the dog pushed at it and opened it, and then the dog was free to run around the house. This clarification involves two people (you and the dog) and two acts (you fail to lock the door of the kennel and push the dog to the door).

(2) The theory number two is that some unknown person skilled at picking locks managed to disable the front door, then came inside the house, set the dog free from the kennel, then snuck it out again covering up any evidence of its existence, and then relocked the front door, leaving the dog free inside to run amok in the house. 

The theory involves three people (you, the dog and the lockpicking intruder) and many acts (pick the lock, enter, release the dog, hide evidence, relock the front door). It also requires us to provide the intruder with a plausible motivation — a motivation which is absent at this point.

Any hypothesis will be a good explanation and a logical one. Both describe the same phenomenon (the escaping dog) and both use the same explanation about how, i.e., the latch was somehow opened up as opposed to some far-fetched idea about canine teleportation or something like that mad.

Which theory is possibly the most correct? If you can't find evidence like odd fingerprints or human footprints or missing belongings to support the hypothesis # 2, Ockham's William will say that in this situation the simpler solution (# 1) is most likely to be correct. The first solution requires only two parts — two individuals and two steps. At the other hand, the second theory needs at least five parts — you, the dog, any possible motive, a potential unknown intruder, and different actions. That is overly complex. The basic rule of Occam was "Thou shalt not excessively multiply extra entities," or to put it in modern words, "Do not rely on extra hypothetical components if you can find an answer that is equally reasonable without them." The simpler hypothesis is more likely to be right, all things being equal, rather than one that depends on several conceptual additions to the evidence already collected.

Occam's razor (or Ockham's razor) is a principle from philosophy. Suppose there exist two explanations for an occurrence. In this case the one that requires the smallest number of assumptions is usually correct. Another way of saying it is that the more assumptions you have to make, the more unlikely an explanation.- wikipedia

What is an example of Occam's razor?
Some examples of razor by Occam include: One of the fence posts is down. Of alternative explanations: a) An albino moose, lost in his search for his best friend squirrel, crashed in desperation through the fence, or b) an rusty nail rusting through, "b" is more probable. The tire is flat on the car.

How is Occam's razor used?
Occam's razor (also known as the "parsimony law") is a problem-solving theory that acts as a practical model of thinking. A logical razor is an tool used in a given situation to remove impossible alternatives. The best-known example of Occam's is.

Is Occam razor valid?
Occam's Razor isn't a fallacy, but nor is it a proof. The fact that you think Occam's Razor discounts a given explanation for events does not mean that the explanation is correct or wrong, it is merely a valuable guideline.

Is Occam's razor true?
Heuristic is Occam's Razor. It's a tool built to help you make fast decisions so we don't have to waste a lot of time debating crap. ... So, Occam's razor basically is that anything with less assumptions is more likely to be accurate, as you need evidence to support it any time you add a new sentence.

What's the opposite of Occam's razor?
Hickam's dictum is a counter-argument on the medical profession's use of Occam's razor.

What is Occam's law?
Occam's razor (also Ockham's razor; Latin: lex parsimoniae "law of parsimony") is a problem-solving theory that, when faced with competing hypothetical responses to a question, one should choose the one which makes the fewest assumptions.

Is the simplest explanation the best?
Named the razor of Ockam (more generally written the razor of Occam), it advises you to look for the more economical solution: in terms of layman, the easiest answer is typically the best. Occam's razor is also interpreted as an warning not to make more conclusions than you need.

When the most obvious answer is the correct?
Occam's razor is defined more often as 'most often the simplest answer is correct,' but this is an oversimplification. The 'right' definition is that individuals are not to be needlessly multiplied.

What is the rule of parsimony?
The Law of Parsimony, also known as the razor of Occam, does not warrant a funeral, but in its description of reality it has some problems. This law states that the preferred one should be the simplest of two competing theories, and that entities should not be multiplied in needlessly.

When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions the simpler one is the better?
Occam's razor has been interpreted popularly in favor of "simplicity," and one of its current re-statements is: "If you have two conflicting theories that make exactly the same assumptions, the simpler one is the stronger." As to "Savant Syndrome." Savant syndrome is a disorder in which someone with severe intellectual disabilities displays certain skills well above average. The skills that savants excell in are usually memory linked.

What causes savant syndrome?
As of 2020, the causes of savant syndrome had not been known. Some researchers hypothesize it is caused by a gene or gene change, and others think it is caused by some sort of damage to the left brain hemisphere with compensation for this injury occurring in the right hemisphere.

Can a normal person have savant syndrome?
In short, savant syndrome is not associated with mental retardation, nor is it limited to mental retardation, and in some individuals with savant syndrome IQ may be in the average, or even superior range.

What is the IQ of a savant?
Although it is true that the IQ measured in most people with savant syndrome is below 70, savant syndrome involves a variety of mental disorders in which IQ function can be normal or even superior in at least scattered areas of functioning.

Islands of Genius: How Savants Do What They Do?.What happens in the brain to cause the incredible abilities of the savant?
What is common to all savants is prodigious, almost mystical memory. Although strong, this form of memory is also limited, bound solely to their particular capacity.Such abilities cluster into five main categories: music, art, lighting calculation, calendar calculation, and visual-spatial skill (such as the puzzle boy, or a man who can hit golf balls with incredible accuracy, so much so that they all fall within a few feet of each other).

Prodigy and Savant Syndrome: Are They Related?Questions are raised continually as to what are the differences in brain mechanisms, if any, between 
(a) prodigies with certain musical or mathematical abilities, for example; 
(b) people with a savant condition with particular talents and skills; and 
(c) the rest of us who act very normally overall but lack any exceptional area of expertise.

Of course, the most noticeable distinction is that, by definition, savants have their special abilities or abilities given some basic mental impairment, usually with low overall IQ scores, while prodigies are also persons with special skills or abilities but without such mental disabilities, who generally operate at a normal or very high overall level and whose IQ scores generally reflect that level of function.

*Memorist (Korean: 메모리스트; RR: Memoriseuteu) is a 2020 South Korean television series starring Yoo Seung-ho, Lee Se-young and Jo Sung-ha. Based on the 2016–2018 Daum webtoon of the same name by Jae Hoo, it aired on tvN from March 11 to April 30, 2020.