Occam's Razor Bias
We prefer simpler explanations even when a more complex one is better supported by evidence.
While Occam's Razor (preferring simpler explanations) is a useful heuristic, it becomes a bias when people reject well-supported complex explanations in favor of simpler but less accurate ones. The cognitive ease of simple explanations makes them feel more true. This creates resistance to nuanced scientific theories, systemic social explanations, and medical diagnoses when a simple cause-and-effect story is available.
What it looks like in the wild.
- Science Climate Simplification Despite complex multi-factorial evidence for climate change, people often prefer simpler explanations — like 'it's just natural cycles' — because the simple story is cognitively easier to process and accept.
Recognising a definition is not the same skill as spotting it.
Two scenarios from the app, with distractors drawn from the same family of biases — which is what makes them hard.
Kara assumes her phone battery drains quickly because the battery is old, not the fact that she's been using a new, power-hungry app that runs in the background.
A software update slowed down your computer. You decide to uninstall it, ignoring the release notes explaining it added new, resource-intensive security features.
Biases rarely arrive alone.
Understand more. Assume less.
188 biases, 18,869 scenarios, and a record of how you actually decide.
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