A Tapestry of Razors, The Psychology of Fantasy Football

Photo: USA Today Sports

My favorite part of fantasy football is the psychological component, the mental approach, and how that synergy impacts strategies and relationships in this hobby.

As soon as we open our laptops, we have immediate access to a bustling marketplace of ideas, data, blueprints, approaches, and social media interactions where "razors" can be the mental tools that help us carve through the dense fantasy football underbrush. They often stand as guiding principles, offering rules of thumb to streamline decision-making and problem-solving processes. These razors, while not infallible laws, can serve as invaluable tools, leading us toward more probable explanations and efficient solutions. Below, we explore eight of the more important philosophical razors as they relate to fantasy football:

The Feynman Razor

Simplify, simplify, simplify. Complexity and jargon can be used to mask a lack of deep understanding. Look for the folks in the fantasy football community who can simplify explanations, strategies, and processes to the point where even a 5-year-old can grasp them.

Sagan Standard

"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." If someone claims that they, or their model/process, can accurately identify vulnerabilities or predict precise outputs consistently at an extremely high success rate – look for definitive proof. It's good practice to validate your skepticism by digging into the results.

The Rooms Razor

If you have a choice between entering multiple rooms – or, in this case, multiple sites, message boards, Discord channels, Reddit communities, etc. choose the ones where you're not the smartest person in the room. Once you're there, talk less and listen more. It may not feel great for your ego, but it'll be tremendous for your growth. And you'll be a better fantasy football player for it.

Hitchens' Razor

Anything asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence. If something can't be settled by reasonable experiment or by observation, it's simply not worth dragging out the debate. Speculation is a key ingredient baked into almost every fantasy football conversation. It's good to remember that while fun to engage in, it can be beneficial to save your energy and instead focus your attention on a discussion with more proven data.