abstract:Minimum message length (MML) is a formal information theory restatement of Occam's Razor: even when models are not equal in goodness of fit accuracy to the observed data, the one generating the shortest overall message is more likely to be correct (where the message consists of a statement of the model, followed by a statement of data encoded concisely using that model). MML was invented by Chris Wallace, first appearing in the seminal (Wallace and Boulton, 1968).