Sir Smackie is the cousin of Sir Smashie, the latter of who decided it was time to watch, cheer, and drink fine cognacs while helping the younger Sophisticates along. While still not versed on fine poetry, he excels at mathematics and physics and has fine collection of scotch. Something the group has taken great interest in.

"Donkh? Donkhed him right on his proper end I did! Now fine gents, on to the next round."

Sir Ugluk of Ducky Ver, enjoyer of fine Cognacs and Brandenberg Cheeses, offed the Lizardman Saurus Donkh on his first expedition to the pitch. While much appreciated by fans, the fellows found it quite unbecoming.

Although sporting a very fine monocle, he has a big top hat to fill. Sir New Monocle Orc is the replacement to the excellent blitzer Sir Monocle Orc. He donned his gear after winning a debate on the merits of free market capitalism against Baron Catchnbashe.

Part Three of the Verbose Occam's Razor Debate

"Yes Baron, but consider the following from the Ward Manager.

{Cigar Puff}

Occam's Razor encourages the playing of odds rather than discovering the truth. It's fine to assume that the simpler hypothesis is more probable than the more complex one. But that doesn't mean that the more complex chain of events haven't, in fact, taken place.

OR suggests that of two equally valid explanations, the simpler explanation should be chosen. The mistake here is in the use of the word 'valid.' In Logic, 'validity' is by definition the formulation of jointly-asserted premises, such that their logical conclusion is undeniable, barring an internal contradiction.

OR is intended to point in the direction of the more likely hypothesis, but the hypothesis still needs to be proven. And if the more simple hypothesis cannot be proven to be the accurate one, then the less likely one(s) will need to be evaluated in order to establish the truth.

"If two theories are equally accurate and neither appears more probable than the other, the simple one is to be preferred over the complicated one, because simplicity is practical."

Or, to paraphrase. "If two explanations are equally likely and equally accurate, the simpler explanation is preferred." The problem arises with the basic premise. The more complex an occurrence, the less likely it is to occur due to the number of possible variables which may be affected. This is an inherent trait, which means that OR is inherently biased toward simplicity of hypothesis, not accuracy.

I don't think OR was ever intended to dismiss any hypothesis; merely to point toward the most likely candidate. To apply it in the broad sense of a test for validity is overreaching.

{Cigar Puff}"

"I am no ball runner, but alas, I shall snap any ball out of the air like a praying mantis on a fly. I must prefer to game along the line, as they say, but again, do no understimate this citizen of the game."

Duke Archismash intercepted the ball against the Clash of Cliche and ran it in for a touchdown. While unlikely to be repeated, it has given him somewhat of a complex, moreso.

"Yes, we will not have such guff and caterwolling on my pitch. No sir indeed."

Mayor Hopagrock earned his distinction in a recent match as MVP for his outstanding blocking, and generally, not tolerating such guff on his pitch. Nor was there to be caterwolling heard, not on his pitch.

"Pip pip, off with you then! HARUMPH."

"It is quite likely you know my older brothers from the Dorf Mosher and Morf Dosher various fames. I, however, saved for the imperial academy and chose my career carefully. My wit, and dare I say, cander, have allowed me to join this prestigious group of sophisticates worthy of our great family name."

Magistrate Zandar joined the Orc Sophisticates after a five year stint on the Judging Council. After his re-election bid failed, he went into the sports arena to best his older brother's various fames.

Part One of the Verbose Occam's Razor Debate

"Pip! Pip!

I would be the first to say that Occam's Razor is a great general principal against which to measure the likely validity of an explanation, but please remember that there are many exceptions, in large part because human beings frequently make assumptions or take for granted certain 'truths' which do not bear up under scrutiny once the details are known.

I can cite at least three instances (two impersonal, one personal) where Occam's Razor gets blown out of the water for just such reasons. Eg, books apparently signed by Mark Twain (pseud. Samuel Clemens) several years after his death, 50 of them to be exact. Occam's Razor would suggest that these were fakes when in reality, he signed 50 blank pages ten years earlier for the publisher, with the understanding that a posthumous collection of all his work would be produced. No one is going to make the assumption that he signed the pages before he died, because it just doesn't occur to a person to make that cognitive leap.

Occam's Razor depends upon a relatively complete understanding of all relevant facts, and reality rarely affords such text-book access to the convolutions which happen as a matter of course where the wandering variables of MOrc and the Universe are involved.

My position regarding Ms. Browne is one of skepticism at best, but I would hesitate to discount all such 'phenomenon' on the basis of my personal prejudice because the majority of the visible psychics have proven to be unreliable. 99.9% of everything is not tangible. The burden is, of course, on the psychics, who must prove their abilities in repeatable scientific trials. So far, none of them have done so. That doesn't mean it won't happen, just that I have a better chance of winning the lottery, without buying a ticket.

Also Pip! Pip!"

"I shall score that touchdown, post haste! Now be a good fellow, and help us gather the fellas for additional cognac."

Sir Crumpet, enjoyer of fine baked cakes and biscuits, scored twice in his first game. While it was highly acclaimed by the crowd with the tossing of top hats, and swinging on monocles, Sir Crumpet merely acknowledged their enthusiams with a tip o' the hat to the fans.

Part Two of the Verbose Occam's Razor Debate

"I disagree there Ward Manager!

Occam's Razor takes on two main forms
1) Don't add more to a hypothesis than is necessary to explain the topic
2) Given two competing hypothesis, the less complex is usually the correct one

Now, with your Clemens example, you have two competing hypothesis:
1) They're fake
2) They're not fake
both of which are equally "simple". I think this differs from the psychic discussion because there we are saying
A) It's fake
B) It's not fake, but it looks the same as if it were fake and requires making numerous assumptions (there is an afterlife, that we can contact it, etc)

Now, by itself Occam's Razor would not eliminate Browne, but coupled with her unwillingness to submit to controlled tests, her profiteering, her abysmal track record at predictions (man does she ever rely on people remembering the hits and forgetting the misses) etc it does reinforce the claim that she is a fraud.

I completely agree that "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" and we can never prove that psychics don't exist (neither can we prove that Invisible Pink Unicorns don't exist); neither is proving Browne to be a fraud proof that all psychics are frauds. Which comes back to the testing. There are protocols that can be used to show if they can demonstrate a statistically significant deviation from random chance.

Hrumpf! Hrumpf!"

"Why, with the Captain in retirement I feel the fine gentlemen of the navy should take the field as they always have! You there, fix those sheets!"