What is it about?
Ideas and theories can be expressed in models. If this models are rich enough, they can be implemented as simulations on computers. This allows to directly compare models and their prediction in a rigorous, impartial environment. But researchers still must ensure that all relevant concepts are included in their model, and that they do not interpret the results outside of the model they created.
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Why is it important?
Computational sciences, including computational social sciences, are increasingly used. When they execute code that implements their theories, they are running a simulation. Therefore, understanding the philosophy of modeling and simulation is pivotal to ensure best support of computational approaches, as mistakes are not limited to the computational realm.
Perspectives
We wrote this article for the Humanities, but it deserves a far broader publication circle. We wrote it as a team of experts from the addressed various disciplines after using simulation in some common projects, so we actually walked the walk described in the paper.
Andreas Tolk
MITRE Corp
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Human Simulation as the Lingua Franca for Computational Social Sciences and Humanities: Potential and Pitfalls, Journal of Cognition and Culture, November 2018, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/15685373-12340040.
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