Pluralitas non est ponenda sine necessitate.
You may know this as Occam’s Razor: “plurality should not be posited without necessity,” or more commonly paraphrased as, “the simplest explanation is usually the right one.”
Occam’s Razor can be a useful tool that helps with problem solving. However, this heuristic that gives precedence to simplicity is not infallible, especially in complex systems.
In medicine, there is a counter argument called Hickam’s Dictum: “A man can have as many diseases as he damn well pleases.”
Hickam’s Dictum is not infallible either, but can be a helpful tool when dealing with complex systems. When navigating complexity, we may need to give precedence to complexity.
A skilled problem solver has learned which tool to use when.
