The Dark Side of the Force: When computer simulations lead us astray and "model think" narrows our imagination
- Preconference draft, Models and Simulations, Paris, June 12-14 -
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4 Simulations that fail to explain
In the following I will to discuss two examples of computer simulations
that were designed by its authors to explain certain empirical phenomena
but ultimately fail to do so. But it is not only the failure to explain
that I am interested in. What concerns me more is the consequences
these failures had. In the one case it lead scientists away from the
relevant questions and made them indulge into the study of computer
simulations that remained almost completely useless for scientific
explanation. In the other case it had, as it seems, the effect of limiting
the imagination so that some of the most important features of the
respective subject matter got overlooked.
Admittedly, both examples are examples of bad simulations. Why bother
looking at bad simulations? Because, in these cases the failures are
just the more obvious and they help us understand what to avoid. Also,
at least the type of simulations described in the first example has
been immensely popular for a long time.
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