D'Sousa's Razor

D’Sousa’s Razor:

Identified by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in the Medium article: The Merchandising of Virtue" - May 27, 2017

"Kids with rich parents talk about “white privilege” at such privileged colleges as Amherst –but in one instance, one of them could not answer D’Souza’s simple and logical suggestion: ‘Why don’t you go to the registrar’s office and give your privileged spot to a minority student who was next in line?’

Hence the principle:

If your private life conflicts with your intellectual opinion, it cancels your intellectual ideas, not your private life.

and

If your private actions do not generalise then you cannot have general ideas.

This is not strictly about ethics, but information transfer. If a car salesman tries to sell you a Detroit car while driving a Honda, he is signalling that it may have a problem."

The video Taleb is referencing is:
SO SATISFYING: Dinesh D'Souza absolutely shreds SJW over "white privilege" - Young America's Foundation

Published 09 Jun 2018. Recorded at Amherst College.

If you hold an intelectual ideal, but your real world actions do not reflect or enforce this ideal. Then your actions cancel out this ideological stance. You cannot say to the word "I am a vegan" and claim the moral virtue for such an identity, but occasional eat chicken. The act of eating the chicken cancels out any moral or ideological virtue or superiority claimed by being vegan.

Student: "We have numbers that demonstrate precisely how much wealth was stolen, and that's money that in some way could be given back."

D'Sousa: "You're willing to have social justice with other people's pay, but you're not willing to pay.

So that's the problem. And that's the problem with the progressivism that marches behind social justice, while protecting its own privileges. You know, how you said, we all have to survive, really, you have to be at Amherst to survive?
You don't have to be at Amherst to survive, you have to be at Amherst to benefit.
You have to be at Amherst because you're getting opportunities at this college that many other people are not getting.

So if you say you believe in equal opportunity, you're a hypocrite because you are taking advantage of opportunities unavailable to others. But for you this hypocrisy is fully justified because you are militating on behalf of the poor. But if it's if you're against privilege - this college is privilege. So there's a glaring hypocrisy, and you will never turn your moral mirror on yourself to say, What am I doing about it?

That's my point. For you - society should act before you do - to enforce your moral code.
____________
Person A: Im a vegan but I occasionally have some chicken.
Person B: By the logic of D'Sousa's Razor, identified by Nassim Taleb - the act of eating the chicken cancel out your vegan claim, regardless of what you say about yourself.

by bewdew December 9, 2023

Murphy's Razor

the principle that the best method of surviving a horrific situation is to simply leave, posited by Eddie Murphy in his long-form standup comedy film Delirious; "it's very simple; if there's a ghost in the house, get the f**k out the house"

in Eden Lake, when faced with a bunch of abusive ASBO kids with a Rottweiler, Fassbender should simply have employed Murphy's Razor and gone to a Holiday inn instead of camping in the forest.

by Barry Beatmaster December 15, 2023

Elon's Razor

A princple stating that:

When examining any given anonymous post on the internet that sings the praises of (Elon Musk's) incomparable genius and contribution to the progress of the human race, it is impossible to determine whether the post was made by a high school freshman, or a divorcee in their late thirties.

"Elon Musk" can be substituted with any silicon Valley con-man.

"I swear, these crypto bros all sound like they're only 15, but half the time when I go to their profile, they're balding."

"Elon's Razor, man."

by ThirdWelles December 6, 2022

McTernan’s Razor

The simplest solution is the opposite of what John says.

Mate, how do I make an accurate prediction? Just use McTernan’s razor.

by Schist & Hornblende July 19, 2023

occamom's razor

Occamom's razor

1st def: Not a "problem-solving" principle that, when Wife/Mom presented with competing hypothetical answers to a problem, The Wife/Mom will select the one situation that makes the most assumptions, and will always cause collateral anxiety and illogical responses for everyone except the Mom/Wife.

2nd def: The most complex reaction to a simple situation... is what it is ...period

Background : Our kids and I , have a wonderful Wife/Mom, We are so fortunate ....But, all three of us get a kick out of the least likely situation to be the one that never (statistically ) ever happens .

I welcome any help on articulating this better :) Im sure everyone has experienced this.. thank you for your consideration

Using Occamom's razor,: My Wife when asked if our 12 and 13 year old daughters could walk around the block of our extremely safe neighborhood . She said no thinking that they would get get kidnapped by a suspicious white van she saw the last week .

I welcome any help on articulating this better :) Im sure everyone has experienced this.. thank you for your consideration

by Borninabarn July 30, 2023

Razor sharp object

Another name for karis Musson

Razor sharp object was at bassie today

by Kar.WJ July 31, 2023

Cramer's Razor

The correct answer is the opposite of whatever was just said. A principle created from the observation of former hedge fund manager and finance commentator Jim Cramer's history of investment advice; where the opposite of whatever is recommended was almost always the best option.

Investment Bro: Cramer was on tv today saying Florba-Skipp is a failing company and to sell immediately.

Financial Planner: Cramer's Razor...
Investment Bro: Dump everything into FBSK immediately

by Ecclesies August 9, 2023