A Bit More On The Appropriateness/Drawbacks of ABM

I know a couple of folks have posted on this topic, but I wanted to add my two cents given that both of our authors for last week treat the drawbacks of ABMs in some detail. In particular, I’m interested in David O’Sullivan’s idea that simple models are necessary in science in order to arrive at understandable explanations of what’s taking place within the model or with an emergent phenomenon (546). While understandable as a scientific paradigm, I think this approach may explain the sentiment captured in “Sidewalk Ballet’s” post and the subsequent debate on this blog about whether ABMs can truly capture/represent life – particularly in geographic terms.

I don’t completely agree with “GIS Funa” that ABMs should only be used as a means for “breaking down” complex phenomenon. While O’Sullivan appears to accept that ABMs often are used this way, he, himself, writes that while simple ABMs might be useful for exploring theories under particular assumptions, they could never be used to “establish the truth of those theories” (546).  He adds that their logic would never be more convincing than other “rhetorical device[s]” if this was the only manner they were used (546). He goes on to conclude that the challenge for modellers is to find more sophisticated ways in which to use ABMs (just as modelers working with other types of models have done).

While I believe ABMs might always be a bit soft in explaining potentially complex individual actions such as irrational behavior, subjective choices or other complex psychologies (as Eric Bonabeau suggests on p7287), they can approximate reality and account for geographic space. Furthermore, these approximations can be extremely useful in trying to better understand complex, emergent phenomenon, flows, or thresholds/state changes in a system. So, we must instead learn how to use ABMs for purposes where these strong suits can best be harnessed – while remaining aware of any limitations.

–ClimateNYC

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