4 ms·
I would also say, that a "complete model" is not a model anymore, but a copy of the thing itself. A model is always an incomplete simulation of something, keep
by ysleepy 7y ago
I would also say, that a "complete model" is not a model anymore, but a copy of the thing itself.
A model is always an incomplete simulation of something, keeping some relevant aspect but discarding less relevant ones while remaining useful.
- AstralStorm 7y agoBut that's completely untrue when the implementation does not match. Suppose one day we manage to create brain uploads. They're not brains but would have additional or different capabilities despite being 1:1 maps - being possible to restore the original from them. This is because they could be ran on different hardware. Likewise, consider lossless compression. It is an accurate model of the data in shorter form.
- ithkuil 7y agoThis is a good example where overloading the meaning of a word decreases its usefulness. There might be a better word for "an effective copy of the same underlying thing but with a different substrate/implementation"; perhaps "homomorphisms", perhaps make up a new word.
- AstralStorm 7y agoWe have the word already in art, it's a sketch or diorama - something known to not be an accurate representation. Or just call it a simplification instead of a model. It's a subset of all models. Alternatively, an explanation of it captures all the detail. Model is combined with another interesting word, essence as in essential, which is what it's supposed to capture, for given purpose. If the purpose of the model is explanatory power and accuracy, these two do not necessarily form a one dimensional trade-off.
- ithkuil 7y agoI think it would be easier to just accept that "model" already means "simplified description" (source https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/model https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/model) and use another word to refer to the superset you're mentioning. That's because language is mostly useful for communication between people, here and now. Treating a natural language as a construct to refine until it reaches a mathematical beauty where nice and short words mean what they "should mean" often causes so much grief and wasted energy.
- ysleepy 7y agoImplementation is an aspect though, possibly the non-relevant one for your usecase. A braindump would keep some aspects, like the neuron configuration etc, but discard others, like vascular properties, exact positional information of neurons etc. You could even go as deep as exact positioning of all contained atoms in the original brain.