How Hitchens' Razor Can Simplify Gaming Discussions

If you've been gaming for a while, you've no doubt heard some really heated conversations over games. Not just regarding rules and mechanics, but also over the minutiae of the setting and the flavor of different abilities. Everything from whether a certain spell actually provokes attacks of opportunity, to whether or not elves can have beards or not has become a hill that at least one gamer (sometimes several) have opted to die on in my presence alone.

There is something that I've found which helps cut through these arguments, and reach meaningful understanding and compromise, however. It's a mystical artifact known by few that's referred to as Hitchens' Razor.

Which you can get at Tee Spring, for those who care.

What is Hitchens' Razor, Exactly?

As you can see on the shirt, the simple premise of Hitchens' Razor is That which can be asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.

This will save you more time in arguments in general, but in gaming arguments it can be a metaphorical life saver. Because embracing this concept makes it clear that unless someone can point out something that backs up their belief or opinion (whether it's how much damage a snowstorm inflicts, or what accent the dwarven language has), then it isn't a fact, and they can't demand it be treated as such.

It's not the first time I've made such a case...

This was basically the same advice I gave in Table Attorneys Vs. Rules Lawyers: How To Be Fair Without Bogging Down Your Game. In short, if someone wants to make an assertion (especially if it's from a player to the DM), then they need to have a piece of text that backs them up on it. Whether it's showing that a spell doesn't require somatic gestures to cast, or pointing out that elves come in all shapes and colors (many of them weird, wild, and otherworldly), pointing out the relevant section in the book makes a pretty solid argument. Same as you would when using case law to explain to a judge why your particular move should be honored by the court, rather than overruled by the bench.

The human mind is a barely-functioning biological computer that's full of glitches, errors, and crossed wires. It's one reason that eyewitness testimony is actually one of the least reliable forms of evidence you can have in a courtroom, despite it being treated with such importance. And more often than not when we clearly remember something we're actually recalling text from a different game, or filling in the rules for a completely different setting (the common argument of, "Well, Tolkien said this is how it works," when playing games not set in Middle Earth for example).

So if you can't point to the relevant rule in a book, or you can't find the section that supports your statement, re-consider whether this is an argument you want to make. Because if you assert that something works one way, there's no reason for anyone else to accept that's true if you didn't bring the receipts.

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That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. Hopefully you found this suggestions useful!

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