g_pepper comments on Rationality Quotes Thread December 2015 - Less Wrong
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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: