Also known as the law of economy or the Principle of Parsimony, the rule is attributed to a Franciscan friar and philosopher named William Occam (or Ockham, 1285–1347/49) [2]. The principle is said to have been invoked long before Occam [3], but his efficiency with the razor resulted in the principle being attributed to him [ibidem]. In order to put a little personality to the historical name, it is worth mentioning that during the papacy of Avignon in 1324 Occam was courageous enough to call the then pope a heretic in a dispute over the idea of clerical poverty [4].

As for the rule itself, it employs us not to multiply explanations beyond necessity (pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate – plurality should not be posited without necessity) [3]. In other words, when several explanations of a phenomenon are proposed, those which only provoke additional questions should be discarded in favor of those which provide simple or – optimally – sufficient explanations.

Occam’s razor may be used to dismiss conspiracy theories – for instance, the notion that COVID-19 doesn’t really exist. In that case, the following questions would be valid:

– Are millions of rescue/health/government/security/military personnel around the world privy to secrets the general population isn’t? If so, then

– Why have virtually none spoken about it? And

– Are dozens of medical laboratories around the world working on hoax vaccines and drugs spending vast amounts of money?

– On the internet, footage of mass graves of COVID-19 can be found. If so, then were the documented gravediggers actors?

– Would an exhumation of the virus’ victims produce mannequins instead of human bodies?

And so on.

On the other hand, if COVID-19 does exist, then humanity has to react to a new type of illness caused by a recently discovered virus. By doing so, it has to implement drastic solutions with the potential to cause panic and induce conspiracy-mode thinking in certain individuals of its species. Many questions may follow, but the answers are provided by scientifically-validated specialists and fit the general narrative.

Occam’s razor could also be applied to various other claims. If a metaphysical or miraculous activity can cure an ailment which medicine can’t, then why don’t people ever pray or pay for the regrowth of amputated limbs? If the Earth is flat, then what layer is at the bottom, and how come no one has ever produced a satisfying picture of the edge? If thousands of people have been abducted by aliens, then why haven’t their neighbors reported seeing anything abnormal? If vaccines are meant to be harmful, what happened to polio and other diseases widespread in the XIX century?

To sum up, Occam’s razor is a useful tool which can help filter out false information in a news-oriented and media-driven world. All that is required of a skeptic is to ask additional questions and to yield a proper tool – in this case, a razor.