Razor and Blunderbuss

Most of you will be familiar with the idea of Occam’s Razor – the philosophical tool that suggests that the most likely explanation is the one that requires the fewest assumptions. Well, that might have done for the 14th Century, but it is clearly inadequate for reasoning in the Internet Age. In view of the coverage of the current American elections I would like to posit an alternative methodology.

Limbaugh’s Blunderbuss suggests that the most likely explanation for anything is the one that requires the largest number of wild and unsupportable assumptions, all presented as incontrovertible fact. If this technique results in multiple, mutually exclusive explanations, all of which are attested concurrently, so much the better.

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