There seems to be two ways to apply Occam's Razor. The first, used by people actually tasked with investigating something, is to prioritize exploration of simpl

There seems to be two ways to apply Occam's Razor. The first, used by people actually tasked with investigating something, is to prioritize exploration of simpler explanations before more complex ones. The second, more commonly used by Internet bystanders, is to treat it like an iron law, immediately cut off all alternate avenues of inquiry and give people degrading labels. Occam's Razor is best as an investigatory rule of thumb and not a thought-terminating cliche.