Lumifer comments on Rationality Quotes Thread December 2015 - Less Wrong
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-- Tyler Cowen
Depends on what the subject matter is. Sometimes, it really doesn't need to be complicated.
True, though this "depends" applies to pretty much everything.
A.N. Whitehead
There's this guy called William of Occam who must really be spinning in his grave right now.
I interpreted the Whitehead quote to mean that you should seek the simplest explanation that explains whatever it is you are trying to explain. This is consistent with Occam's Razor. I assumed that "distrust it" meant subject the explanation to additional tests to confirm or falsify the explanation. So, I didn't see this quote as contradicting William of Occam; instead it built on Occam's Razor to describe the essence of the scientific method.
This interpretation is supported if you look at the context of the quote:
Here also is Einstein:
Or in the pithier paraphrase usually quoted:
I'd be even more suspicious of someone telling me that it's not that simple.