So: is it possible to formulate an instrumental version of Occam? Can we justify a simplicity bias in our policies?
Maybe problems that don’t have simple solutions (i.e. all their solutions have a large description length) are usually intractable for us. If so, given a problem that we’re trying to solve, the assumption that it has simple solutions is probably either useful (if it’s true) or costless (if it isn’t). In other words: “look for your missing key under the lamppost, not because it’s probably there, but because you’ll only ever find it if it’s there”.
Maybe problems that don’t have simple solutions (i.e. all their solutions have a large description length) are usually intractable for us. If so, given a problem that we’re trying to solve, the assumption that it has simple solutions is probably either useful (if it’s true) or costless (if it isn’t). In other words: “look for your missing key under the lamppost, not because it’s probably there, but because you’ll only ever find it if it’s there”.