KENNEDY ASSASSINATION AND OCCAM’S RAZOR

           Most people allow their feelings, beliefs, and desires to control their understanding of facts. This is especially true of conspiracy theories. Such theories often arise out of thin air without the support of any empirical evidence. They satisfy the need of people for some explanation of a phenomenon for which there appears to be no explanation. I maintain that the powerful need people have for an explanation is akin to religious belief. People do not want to believe that things happen for no reason. They do not want to believe that we live in a random universe and that we are subject to arbitrary forces which have no real meaning or purpose. They make-up stories and myths to explain things that they do not understand.

A far more intellectually honest approach to such questions is Occam’s Razor. Occam’s Razor is a principle of logic developed by the philosopher, William of Ockham (c. 1287 – 1347). Occam’s Razor states that among competing hypotheses, the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions should be selected. The simplest available theory need not be most correct, but in the absence of any countervailing evidence, it is the one which should be accepted. In other words, we should not create a complicated conspiracy theory for the Kennedy assassination unless it is supported by sound empirical evidence.

I am a retired attorney who practiced trial law for 37 years. I know that there are many (perhaps 100) conspiracy theories for the shooting of President Kennedy, but, so far as I know, none of them is supported by the kind of evidence that would be upheld in a court of law. The simplest theory is that Oswald was the lone gunman and that he acted solely on his own in shooting President Kennedy. Using Occam’s Razor, that is the one we should adopt.

            I acknowledge that it is entirely possible that the assassination of President Kennedy was the result of a conspiracy and even that there were more than one shooter in Dallas that day. But the mere possibility of such a scenario does not make it worthy of our unwavering belief. Anything is possible, and some of the conspiracy theories (i.e., it was carried-out by aliens from another planet) stretch the limits of allowable absurdity. Author Vincent Bugliosi reports that: “At one time or another, doubters of the lone gunman theory have accused 42 groups, 82 assassins and 214 people of being involved in the assassination.” CNN says, “That's a lot of paranoia.”

Logic and sound reason do not allow us to hitch our belief to some theory merely because it satisfies our political, religious, or philosophical hungering. While some theories are more intelligent than others, none of them has provided sufficient proof to support its conclusions. Among the leading theories that have been debunked by rational investigators are the theories that: a) LBJ was behind it; b) the "military industrial complex" did it; or c) the Mob did it. Among the more respected theories are that Oswald acted alone as part of an unknown conspiracy, or that the CIA was behind it. Even these theories, however, do not provide the kind of evidence that would lend them serious credibility. 

You would think that the absence of hard evidence would doom all of the many theories to universal disbelief, but that is not the case. Approximately 75% of Americans believe that the Kennedy assassination was the result of a conspiracy and that there were more than one shooter who participated. To me this is a discouraging example of the fact that most people do not think rationally.

It is reasonable to keep an open mind as to the possibility that Oswald was merely part of a vast conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy, but until someone comes forth with empirical, scientific, historical, hard as nails evidence, we should stick to Occam’s Razor.