To me this is also greatly linked with the “belief in belief” theme : most people who do claim that Occam’s Razor don’t hold, who question using rationality on philosophical questions, do use them in daily life. When they see the cat entering a room, here a noise, see a broken glass, they assume it’s the cat who broke the glass, not aliens or angels who teleported in the room, broke the glass, and then disappeared. When they feel hungry, they open the fridge, take out some food, and eat it, assuming the food will be in the fridge “like before”, and than eating will make them feel less hungry, “like before”. And when asked if the sun will raise tomorrow, they’ll say “yes”.
So in fact, they do believe in Occam’s Razor. They do believe that the future will likely look like the past. They do implement the modus ponens. They do assume “reality” to exist and to be lawful. But they don’t believe they have that belief. Instead, they believe they believe in god, alien abduction, or the whole universe being created by their own mind. And it’s not that easy to make them face the fact they are mixing up between beliefs and beliefs in beliefs.
To me this is also greatly linked with the “belief in belief” theme : most people who do claim that Occam’s Razor don’t hold, who question using rationality on philosophical questions, do use them in daily life. When they see the cat entering a room, here a noise, see a broken glass, they assume it’s the cat who broke the glass, not aliens or angels who teleported in the room, broke the glass, and then disappeared. When they feel hungry, they open the fridge, take out some food, and eat it, assuming the food will be in the fridge “like before”, and than eating will make them feel less hungry, “like before”. And when asked if the sun will raise tomorrow, they’ll say “yes”.
So in fact, they do believe in Occam’s Razor. They do believe that the future will likely look like the past. They do implement the modus ponens. They do assume “reality” to exist and to be lawful. But they don’t believe they have that belief. Instead, they believe they believe in god, alien abduction, or the whole universe being created by their own mind. And it’s not that easy to make them face the fact they are mixing up between beliefs and beliefs in beliefs.