Editing Talk:2541: Occam

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The minimalist nature of the cartoon seems appropriate to the subject.
I think keeping the explanation simple would also be appropriate.
My attempt was:

 Combines {{w| Occam's razor}} with the {{w| barber paradox}}.  
 The title text refers to {{w| Murphy's law}}.

Which promptly was greatly expanded.  [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.131|162.158.106.131]] 20:28, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

:Aye, sorry about that. I also thought I was minimalist (except for the different Incomplete-BOT-thing submitted, probably) and consciously overwrote you by my own 'from scratch' one after I got the inevitable edit-conflict. I might not have done, but I believe your explanation would have suffered later hyperverbiation by others, anyway, but mine covered at least one extra issue (the continuity of the razor throughout it all) that could postpone this. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.57|172.70.162.57]] 20:36, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

::No worries.  "Simplify, simplify, simplify!" - Thoreau
::"Why didn't he just say Simplify" - One of the panelists on Says You [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.131|162.158.106.131]] 20:46, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

Shouldn't the name of the comic be "Razor", since that's the common concept? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 22:50, 12 November 2021 (UTC)

The highest likelihood (and funnier line) is that Peter (referring to The Peter Principle) grabs the razor.{{unsigned}}

Benford may have something to say about the number of injuries he subsequently observes needing treatment, on any given day... [[Special:Contributions/172.70.86.12|172.70.86.12]] 04:55, 13 November 2021 (UTC)

This comic really reminds me of [[1505: Ontological Argument]]. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.35.70|172.70.35.70]] 16:44, 13 November 2021 (UTC)Bumpf
:Megan and Cueball are walking similarly as that comic and [[1315: Questions for God]]. But Megan's hair seemed to have thinned out in 1505. Was Randall's pen running low that day? [[User:Barmar|Barmar]] ([[User talk:Barmar|talk]]) 17:59, 13 November 2021 (UTC)

I always thought that the simplest explanation for the Barber paradox, is that the barber is female, so she is not one of the men who does not shave themselves & there is no paradox. <Br /> 
[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 17:30, 14 November 2021 (UTC) 
:I ''don't'' think we really needed to double the length of the Barber section, to mention it, though? I'm not sure the current phrasing is even precisely accurate to the classical phrasing of the paradox, yet... With precise phrasing, we presumably wouldn't need to specify that the Barber is not female? <Br /> 
:[[User:ProphetZarquon|ProphetZarquon]] ([[User talk:ProphetZarquon|talk]]) 00:35, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

I don’t think most people would know what “bad failure modes” are. (I certainly don’t.) [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 19:15, 14 November 2021 (UTC)
:Rather than to fail-safe, it will fail-dangerous. A razor that fails-safe will just not shave as desired. One that fails-dangerous will perhaps cut more than the (un)desired beard and/or stubble. And now you know what "bad failure modes" means, do feel free to use as concise a phrasing as you think will suffice in its place.[[Special:Contributions/172.70.162.47|172.70.162.47]] 00:13, 15 November 2021 (UTC)

There's another solution to the barber paradox - what if there are two barbers? Then they can shave each other.
[[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.155|172.70.85.155]] 14:27, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
:Then the barber still wouldn't be shaving himself, so according to the rules of the paradox, he would have to be shaving himself. [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 19:09, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.155|172.70.85.155]] 14:27, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
 :Then the barber still wouldn't be shaving himself, so according to the rules of the paradox, he would have to be shaving himself. [[User:Szeth Pancakes|Szeth Pancakes]] ([[User talk:Szeth Pancakes|talk]]) 19:09, 15 November 2021 (UTC)
-:And the second barber only shaves those who ''do'' shave themselves, then he'll in turn have a limited (or at least ad-hoc) clientelle, that validly could or could not include himself (but if it does, then that firmly disqualifies him from Barber 1's attentions).
-:Though the age-old aphorism is that in visiting a town with just two barbers, if you know nothing else it's best to try to use the one with the less neat haircut, overall, as they should have been the one who more skillfully cut the hair of their better-looking compatriot. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.91.36|172.70.91.36]] 00:02, 16 November 2021 (UTC)