Training: Occam’s Razor and Stripping Away Everything That Doesn’t Matter

We recently shared a review of a Kalashnikov-style pistol produced by Occam Defense Solutions. Not surprisingly, that led to a few comments alluding to “Occam’s razor.” Those comments got us thinking, in our modern age, how many of those in the reading audience aren’t merely familiar with the term Occam’s razor, but actually know what the philosophical principle is all about.

To that end, how many of those persons who have embraced the mantle of “firearms instructor” not only know about William of Ockham’s philosophy, but actually take the time to apply it?

The need to take on this subject was driven home recently when a colleague sent me the link to a video where two men, both of whom claimed to be firearms instructors, were debating as to how many ways or methods there were to load ammunition into a semi-automatic handgun. One said there were three ways, the other said there were four.

All of that was news to me because I teach and practice only one way to manually feed ammunition into self-loading handguns. But before we get into an online argument over that topic, let’s set some groundrules regarding William of Ockham’s philosophy.

Occam’s Razor

Let’s consider the simple answer first. William would approve of that. Occam’s razor is a mental rule that says the simplest explanation is usually the best one. When you have two ideas that explain an event, choose the one that needs the fewest guesses, mental leaps or extra steps. It’s named after William of Ockham, a 14th-century thinker. 

Now let’s see what else there is to say about this philosophical principle.

The principle of Occam’s razor is generally attributed to William of Ockham (also spelled Occam) (c. 1285 – 1348), an English theologian, logician, and Franciscan friar. In William of Occam’s terms, he wrote in Latin: “Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate,” or “Plurality must never be posited without necessity.”  

The basic principle, however, was enunciated as far back as Aristotle (“the more limited, if adequate, is always preferable”) and Ptolemy (\”we consider it a good principle to explain the phenomena by the simplest hypothesis possible\”). It also has been related in the works of Isaac Newton (\”we are to admit no more causes of natural things than such as are both true and sufficient to explain their appearances\”).

Although the true origin of Occam’s razor is debatable, William of Ockham historically gets the credit, in large part due to the writings in 1852 of Sir William Hamilton, 9th Baronet, a Scottish metaphysical philosopher who first coined the term “Occam’s razor.”  

Occam’s razor is used as a heuristic, or “rule of thumb” to guide scientists in developing theoretical models. The term “razor” refers to the “shaving away” of unnecessary assumptions when distinguishing between two theories. Among many other scientific uses, Occam’s razor is used in biology to determine evolutionary change, and in medicine for use in diagnosis.

The philosophical principle of Occam’s Razor meshes with the basic engineering principle of the fewest moving parts. The principle of the fewest moving parts states that designs with fewer moving components are inherently more reliable, efficient, and easier to maintain. Fewer parts mean fewer points of potential failure, less friction, lower weight, and reduced production costs.

How to Apply Occam to Martial Firearms Training?

In simplistic terms, we use Occam’s razor as a philosophical tool to trim away all that is superfluous and unnecessary. This adheres to the sculptor versus potter debate as to how to create a work of art. The sculptor takes a chunk of marble, imagines the masterpiece hidden within, and then he removes any material that isn’t necessary to reveal his work of art. The sculptor does not attempt to achieve perfection by adding anything. To the contrary, he removes everything that’s superfluous, unnecessary. 

Martial firearms training is built around physical movement and learned techniques. However, we can’t separate the physical movement of the body from the desires of the brain. We have to understand the role of the brain and its many parts in making the body do what we want.

The prefrontal cortex is the control center for decision-making, planning, and self-control. It evaluates choices, weighs future consequences, and stops impulsive actions. The basal ganglia are a group of structures deep in the brain that turn repeated actions into automatic habits.

When you practice a task, control shifts from the thinking part of your brain (the prefrontal cortex) to the basal ganglia, saving mental energy. The anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC) is a critical hub region in the frontal-medial part of the brain that acts as a control center for willpower, tenacity, and energy allocation. It evaluates whether a difficult task is worth the physical or mental effort required to achieve a goal.

In our arena of martial firearms usage, the prefrontal cortex is in charge of the decision to press the trigger and fire the gun as such must be an absolutely deliberate decision. The prefrontal cortex is where the good guy or bad guy, evil or innocent determination is made. Poor decision-making leads to innocent injury or death which has to be avoided if at all possible. 

The basal ganglia is where we develop the habits, patterns and routines that save us time. For instance, when the brain perceives a potentially deadly threat, it’s the basal ganglia’s task to order the body (hand) to find the gun, draw the gun, line up the sights and be ready for the order from the prefrontal cortex to fire.

No sweat, right? 

What happens, though, when we confuse the basal ganglia by overloading the habit formation process? For instance, if the gun doesn’t make noise or stops making noise during a critical event like a gunfight, failing to get it back up and working could be a fatal error.

But what if the student has been taught three different ways to solve one problem? If the brain encounters a problem and three separate solutions for that problem have been programmed into the system, the basal ganglia will be confused and the prefrontal cortex will have to step in and figure out which of the three ways is the one that should be used. Remember, we program habits into the basal ganglia to clear away the clutter and confusion and to save time. 

Add to this situation Hick’s Law, also known as the Hick-Hyman Law. Hick’s Law states that the time it takes to make a decision (pre-frontal cortex) increases as the number of choices grows. Decision time grows logarithmically, not linearly.

Too many choices overwhelm the brain’s limited processing capacity.

We’ve seen this on the training range innumerable times. A student who’s been taught three or four ways to solve a problem encounters that problem in the middle of a shooting drill. Rather than swiftly and reflexively solving that problem, they go into what we call “vapor lock.” They freeze and stare at the gun while the prefrontal cortex sorts through all the available ways it’s been taught to solve the problem and then gives the final command. In this case, the student isn’t wrong, they were set up for failure by bad instruction. 

What should have happened was that the course creators and teachers should have examined the technique, pulled out Occam’s razor, and cut away everything that was superfluous and unnecessary. That brings us back to the question…which is better, to teach a student one way to solve three similar problems or to teach them three

ways to solve one problem? We know what William of Ockham would have chosen.

Another major pre-loaded confusion problem is the use of or the teaching of “administrative” techniques. These are actions and behaviors that students are forced to go through. However, the instructors will then willingly tell the students, “We don’t do that when it’s real.”  

That brings us back to the Primacy Effect and how the first exposure to information and behavior has the greatest impact on humans. What they learn first will carry the most weight.

If we repeatedly force students to undergo behaviors that we want them to forget or neglect under stress, what we’ve done is pre-load the aforementioned confusion into their information processing center. We’ve effectively made it impossible for the basal ganglia to do its job, thus forcing the prefrontal cortex to step in and take time to sort it all out.

That’s not the best way to train and condition humans to be the most effective during high-stress, critical events. 

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student of the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.