When used incorrectly, Occam's razor can have more serious consequences. In medicine, the maxim “When you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras” is taught to practitioners to remind them that a simpler diagnosis that can explain multiple symptoms is more probable than a series of unconnected and rare conditions.

What is failing Occam's razor fallacy?

Also called the “law of parsimony”, Occam's razor is a mental model which states that “it is futile to do with more what can be done with fewer”—in other words, the simplest explanation is most likely the right one.

Is Occams razor wrong?

While Occam's razor is a useful tool, it has been known to obstruct scientific progress at times. It was used to accept simplistic (and initially incorrect) explanations for meteorites, ball lightning, continental drift, atomic theory, and DNA as the carrier of genetic information.