I think Occam's Razor is a good rule of thumb. It's not a proof, but the pattern established by simpler solutions being likelier than complex solutions gives it an edge. I could say that my trash got knocked over in a battle between ghosts and paranormal investigators who fought valiantly in the middle of the night only to be interrupted by vampires and werewolves who were having a turf war, and in the struggle my trash was knocked over. Or, perhaps it was raccoons. I wasn't there to see it, so I can't be sure. But my lack of direct knowledge doesn't make this a fifty-fifty proposition. One possible solution is much more likely than the other.

Occam was obviously not an evolutionist. Evolution always tends toward complexity. Look around, how many things are becoming more simple. Our cars have become so complicated that most home mechanics can't work on them. Look at the building code books - our electrician showed me his electrical code book and it was the size of a large dictionary, and he said it was 6 years old. And life: humans (at least some of them-you know who I mean) are vastly more complicated than the single cell bacteria that we came from.

The simplest answer is always best?

Another way of avoiding unnecessary drama.

Sort of like "K.I.S.S."

(keep it simple stupid)

The simplest and most logical answer to a question or problem is more likely than not. It is a good rule to live by.

Like Most tools it works for it's intended purpose

A solution with the fat trimmed off it will more often than not fly much better.

It’s a good rule for scientific research.

Omega symbol rule something like the beginning begets the end again repeating the beginning. Kind of like a cat chasing it's tail. There is no possible end infinity....

Business related emails are another perfect example. You need to know exactly what you want to say and get to the point as soon as possible, otherwise you lose the attention of the recipients.

Einstein said that any idot can take something simple and make it complex but true genious can take something complex and make it simple.

My definition of Occam's razor; A tool to trim everything from a theory that is un-necessary to account for the facts.

Humorous definition; Facts without theory are trivia, Theory without facts is bullshit.

I believe two explanations of any occurrence in life is part of the human condition. In science and Philosophy, believing the simpler one is true is where I have a problem, It’s a presumption that an outcome can be determined by (predetermined) criteria. As we continue to search and question the natural world and nonphysical realms for what we are doing here, why limit our selves to pre determined positions.

One of my old lecturers used to prepend "all things being equal" to the beginning of the simple definition. I think it makes a positive difference in the way you think about Occam's, and also helps it to apply to fields outside of mathematics and theoretical physics. I still prepend "all things being equal" when lecturing today.

Razors in general are very useful philosophical tools. I do personally prefer Hanlon's razor though: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

I think it's a basic statement of the burden of proof and the null hypothesis. Any time you run an experiment, the default result is that you can't prove any connection/causation etc. and you have to have known quantities (evidence) to prove any other hypothesis.