Maybe you were snoozing in the History of Philosophy class when Occam’s Razor came up. Or maybe your professor rushed past William of Occam’s famous imperative to get to Macchiavelli or Hobbes. But we desperately need Occam’s spirit in this complicated age.

Hence, this site.

Occam’s Way offers a forum to explore simple strategies to deal with a complex world. In an age when we are overwhelmed — by information, bureaucracy, scientific breakthroughs, globalization, fragmented consciousness — we need to find the simple strategies that make a difference. When you do the simple things right, the other things are a lot more manageable.

So who was this Occam fellow?

William of Occam (right) was a Franciscan friar in the late 13th century best known for his insistence that the simplest way is usually the best way — or at least a critical part of finding the right way. “Entities should not to be multiplied unnecessarily.” Over the years, people have rephrased this statement in a number of different ways. For example: “If you have two theories which both explain the observed facts then you should use the simplest until more evidence comes along.” Or: “If you have two likely solutions to a problem, pick the simplest.” Or: “Keep things simple.”

We are a long way from Occam. We live in a world of complex bureaucracy, contradictory laws, bumbling fixers, self-interested inside dealers, and just plain confused folks.

Rather than do the right thing, all too often reformers add new layers to already complicated systems. We create Rube Goldberg contraptions — like the professor’s rococo potato-peeling machine (left) — rather than taking simple measures that get to the heart of the problem.

If children fail to learn, educators create new programs and mandates. If housing gets too expensive, developers create complex new rules and funding streams. If people exploit a mind-numbing tax system, the answer is to hire more lobbyists and lawyers to bend the system even more. If people get fat, nutritionists devise elaborate diets and workplace incentives. If someone oversteps his authority in the workplace, we cram a hundred employees in an auditorium for sensitivity training.

To be sure, we have lots of complicated problems. We have created dilemmas that would stump the greatest minds of previous ages.

Consider: Arms proliferation and terrorism, population migrations and environmental spoiling, family breakup and bad schools, soulless sprawlscapes and unending traffic jams, bank-breaking heath care, mind-crushing mass media, bad schools and unaffordable housing, public rudeness and anger.

These problems will not go away with simple cure-alls. But at the same time, most problems have simple pressure points that, if we find them, can make complicated problems easier. If we can take a “first things first” approach — fixing what’s possible to fix easily — we can make the whole mess a little simpler.

Occam’s Razor might offer a number of simple rules of thought and action:

• Look for the leverage point in all problems.
• Understand the difference between primary and secondary causes.
• When you need to act, act. Delay causes unnecessary confusion.
• Do not address problems by simply adding to existing activities.
• Understand that all actions produce unintended consequences. Try to anticipate those effects before acting.
• Realize that complex systems change over time.
• Understand the back-and-forth dynamics of relationships.
• When building systems, strive to create “day-tight compartments” for activities that do not need the input of outsiders.
• Always try to build feedback — and effective responses to feedback — into systems.

Using “Occam’s Way” is neither conservative nor liberal, reactionary or revolutionary. It is simply the best approach for clearing out the clutter that impedes understanding and effective action.