ELI5 Occam's Razor - what does it really mean?

What is Occam’s Razor? Why is it so commonly misunderstood? Why do people talk about hooves and zebras when describing it? Who was Occam, and why is it his razor? What is Occam’s broom? What are other philosophical razors that we should know about? ... we explain like I'm five Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: shadowofthewild, stairway2evan, bakanobaka, albatroopa, zjm555, lukavwolf and mredding To the ELI5 community that has supported us so far, thanks for all your feedback and comments. Send us an e-mail: [email protected]