Occam's Razor: Understanding its Principle and Medical Application

Question
Do you know what the principle of Occams Razor is? How is this used in making a medical diagnosis. Can you give me an example to help me better understand it. Can you use this in all patients. In which patients can you violate this principle?


Answer
"the principle of scientific parsimony.  William of Occam (14th century) stated it thus:  "The assumptions introduced to explain a thing must not be multiplied behond necessity."

I actually had not heard that term before, but I interpret it as not jumping to conclusions... when an assumption is made, you can't build upon it to explain other problems... for example, you cut off the legs of a frog, and then tell it to jump.  Obviously it won't, but it wouldn't be a proper assumption to state that cutting off the frog's legs makes him deaf.

As I said, I haven't heard it before, so I am not sure I have really used it per se to help with patient care.

Hope this helps...