NST -
This is the kind of richness I trust you to always add to the
conversation... a different (but similarly useful) splitting of hairs
about language. I realize that your broader use of the term "model" is
fundamental and correct, and that the short-cut use of "model" for
"mathematical model" has perhaps lead to sloppy thinking. Or does it
merely reflect it? I suspect that many of us here do not have the
practice or experience in using "model" in this larger sense well.
I suppose that the term "mathematical formalization of a model" might be
most precise, but I think "mathematical model" is an acceptable
contraction since I think "formalization" is implicit (redundant) when
invoking "mathematical" in this sense.
I don't know if your (broader) definition of "model" would be more
accurate if we prefixed it with "intuitive" or "mental" or even
"metaphorical" model.
FWIW, when I talk with my daughter who is deeply embedded in the
biosciences, they regularly use the shorthand of "model" to mean the
invocation of a fairly formal analogy between one species and another.
e.g. "a mouse model of xxx" or "a mosquito model of yyy", indicating
that they do experimental studies on one species for various reasons
(practical/ethical) to try to draw conclusions in another species. I'm
sure there is a very precise and elaborate practice involved. I find
the use of "model" very unnerving, possibly the same feeling you get
when "simulants" use "model".
Glen claims the title (appellation?) "simulant" which I find apt for
*many* here who make their living (current or previous) by rendering
mathematical models into computer simulations. This task often requires
thoughtfully choosing or developing the appropriate model TO render into
code and place in the context of a series of
experiments-by-simulation. I am sometimes appalled at the lack of
rigor brought to this whole process, but often the results are still
useful for enhanced understanding if not rigorous advancement of the
scientific domain they are exploring.
I believe that your contribution to the game theoretic model of human
cooperation/defection known as "the iterated prisoner's dilemma" which
we know as MOTH (My way Or The Highway) is a perfect example within the
larger milieu. I don't know what the higher level "model" the specific
mathematical formulation we know as "prisoner's dilemma" defers to.
I myself have done a bit of this work but more often have been in a
support role in trying to help "simulants" and the "modelers" they
represent to develop more intuitive perspectives or understandings of
the phenomena in question through a chain of analogical relations from
the loosest of metaphor to the tightest of formal modeling.
In any case, I appreciate your asking of these questions.
And to your specific question of "is a Hurricane a Complex System", I
think SG's answer was very good and hopefully helped to disambiguate the
common use of "Complex System" in this forum.
Carry on,
- SS
On 5/28/17 11:10 PM, Stephen Guerin wrote:
Nick asks:
Is a hurricane a “complex system”?
It depends. What is your metaphor (model) of a hurricane?
If I wanted to understand how a hurricane forms, I might model
dissipative structure formation in the presence of temperature and
pressure gradients. I would call this a complex system.
If I needed to add a hurricane track simulation to our Simtable, for
the purposes of how my customers would use it for emergency planning,
it would probably be enough to model its track as a random walker
biased by global winds and a curve parameter to represent the Coriolis
effect. I would not call this a complex system.
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