3 ms·

I'm unclear as to what you mean by parsimonious.

• throwanem 10y ago
  Requiring the fewest or simplest assumptions. Specifically: Either the statement is true, and a lot of people you've regarded as friendly acquaintances in fact wish you ill, or the statement is false, and one person (the one making it) wishes you ill, as demonstrated by his having decided to tell you a lie which, if believed, will probably harm at least some of your social relationships within the context. Ceteris paribus, the latter requires fewer assumptions (ill will on the part of one person, rather than of many), and is therefore likelier to be accurate. This use of the adjective originates in the philosophical concept of "ontological parsimony", which is basically Occam's Razor with lots of the sort of added complexity you generally find in epistemological analysis.