human
Where did the heuristic ‘occam’s razor’ come from?
assistant
It was coined by the philosopher William of Ockham. Occam's razor is a principle of parsimony, or the principle of simplicity. The principle states that entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. For example, in biology, the principle of Occam's razor suggests that a gene should not be broken up into two or more separate genes unless there is strong evidence that this is necessary.