Otto’s razor

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HERCULIO: ’Tis neither malice, spite, nor virtue
Whose ledger swells, or plucks, the seedy fruits of progress —
But mainly accident.
Lest thy with surety know aught else —
Withhold thy assignations.
TRIAGO: Pish upon thee, nuncle. Pish!
Dost thou mean to say
Things peel this way
Through doughty misadventure?
HERCULIO: Peradventure — TRIAGO: Pish abeam!
Wouldst thou ’pon this shaky surmise
Withhold thy rebuke? Is it no more than that? HERCULIO: Aye — or a fluke.

—Büchstein, Die Schweizer Heulsuse

A rule of thumb, attributed to 19th century Austrian plowright Büchstein, that recommends when there are plausible alternative explanations for a given piece of behaviour, one should choose the simplest-minded, preferring cloth-headedness or coincidence over an alternative account involving the artful application of intelligence, inspiration, “malice, spite, or virtue”.

Until the contrary is proven, we should treat both the pinnacles of cultural achievement and the chasms of mortal calumny the product of accident and not design.

Die Schweizer Heulsuse was a comic farce, but (until the dengue fever got him) Büchstein was fond of pointing out apparent monuments to human triumph and stains of monstrous wickedness that in fact came about by more or less fortunate adjacency, and not intelligent design.

See also

• Occam’s razor
• Büchstein