The idea of counting postulates is attractive, but it harbours a problem...
...we’d still find that each postulate encapsulates many concepts, and that a fair comparison between competing theories should consider the relative complexity of the concepts as well.
Yes, I agree. A simple postulate count is not sufficient. That’s why I said complexity is *related* to it rather than the number itself. If you want a mathematical formalization of Occam’s Razor, you should read up on Solomonoff’s Inductive Inference.
To address your point about the “complexity” of the “Many Worlds” interpretation of quantum field theory (QFT): The size of the universe is not a postulate of the QFT or General Relativity. One could derive what a universe containing only two particles would look like using QFT or GR. It’s not a fault of the theory that the universe actually contains ~ 10^80 particles†.
People used to think the solar system was the extent of the universe. Just over a century ago, the Milky Way Galaxy was thought to be the extent of the universe. Then it grew by a factor of over 100 Billion when we found that there were that many galaxies. That doesn’t mean that our theories got 100 Billion times more complex.
† Now we know that the observable universe may only be a tiny fraction of the universe at large which may be infinite. In-fact, there are several different types of multiverse that could exist simultaneously.
Yes, I agree. A simple postulate count is not sufficient. That’s why I said complexity is *related* to it rather than the number itself. If you want a mathematical formalization of Occam’s Razor, you should read up on Solomonoff’s Inductive Inference.
To address your point about the “complexity” of the “Many Worlds” interpretation of quantum field theory (QFT): The size of the universe is not a postulate of the QFT or General Relativity. One could derive what a universe containing only two particles would look like using QFT or GR. It’s not a fault of the theory that the universe actually contains ~ 10^80 particles†.
People used to think the solar system was the extent of the universe. Just over a century ago, the Milky Way Galaxy was thought to be the extent of the universe. Then it grew by a factor of over 100 Billion when we found that there were that many galaxies. That doesn’t mean that our theories got 100 Billion times more complex.
† Now we know that the observable universe may only be a tiny fraction of the universe at large which may be infinite. In-fact, there are several different types of multiverse that could exist simultaneously.