Occam's Razor: Look for Simplicity

William of Ockham (or Occam) was an English scholar and philosopher, born around 1280.  His anti-Platonist views, that there were no universals, only individual things, were summed up by the assertion that became known as Occam's Razor:

The idea is to find the simplest explanation of the observed facts, because the simplest explanation is the most likely one.  Simplicity doesn't prove a conclusion, it suggests one.

Simplicity (or, in its esthetic form, elegance) has proved a powerful tool in modern physics, for instance.

(In 1985, my wife and I walked to Ockham, a wide spot in the road, from the train stop at Effingham Junction.  You would never have guessed that Ockham was the birthplace of one of the greatest medieval contributors to European civilization and thought.)