methodological-simplicity-preference
Simplicity in scientific inquiry is a strategy to manage complexity and reduce cognitive burden, not a metaphysical claim about the world's nature.
1 chapter across 1 book
Epistemology: An Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge (2003)Nicholas Rescher
Chapter 13 explores the relationship between scientific progress and the increasing complexity and cost of acquiring knowledge, introducing the Law of Logarithmic Returns which states that scientific knowledge grows only as the logarithm of the volume of information due to significant information being obscured by insignificant data. The chapter also critically examines the methodological preference for simplicity in scientific theories, arguing that this preference is grounded in rational economy and cognitive efficiency rather than any ontological claim about the simplicity of nature itself.