Friday 6 March 2020

Occam's Razor and Male Waxing in Woking



About seven miles east from my beauty salon in Woking lies a village called Ockham. William of Ockham (or Occam) was born here. He was an English Franciscan friar who lived from 1285 to 1347. He is known for ‘Occam’s Razor’, a principle which can be paraphrased as ‘the simplest solution is most likely the right one’.


This may not be entirely unrelated to having a waxing, although a razor is not used. But a waxing can raze away unwanted or unsightly hair from various parts of the body, giving a pleasant aesthetic appearance.



We may not know what waxing, or similar methods, were around in William’s time of the 14th Century. If they were somewhat hair-raising, in the sense of the medieval health treatments operating then, with standards of hygiene and sanitation being questionable, we can be assured that this is not the case today.  You can find it as a hair-depleting experience, in the literal sense, if you should you choose to have a waxing.

Yet – no pain, no gain? The desire for waxing or other beauty treatments for whatever reason, may need to over-ride the law of parsimony. This again brings William in, as it is the name given to the Occam’s Razor principle. It means extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources.

Paying out, within one’s means, can give satisfaction, pleasure, and contentment, with having experienced a beauty treatment from a fine massage therapist. 


There’s this one here in the 21st Century, seven and a half miles west of where William was born. Pop down the road from Ockham, or from further afield sometime soon, where a warm welcome awaits.