Imagine the impact on human culture if the skills of running, interpreting, and creating computer models were as widespread as the skills of reading, interpreti

Imagine the impact on human culture if the skills of running, interpreting, and creating computer models were as widespread as the skills of reading, interpreting, and writing text are today. The person on the street would have new intellectual tools for making sense of the world around them. Decision-making might improve as the public understanding of issues moves beyond sound-bites. The fog surrounding economic projections, and the other uses and abuses of statistical evidence in politics, might lift at least a little. Unlike many hermeneutic activities spawned by the Information Age, modeling urges one to look outward at that which is being modeled, which could lead to more involvement and less passivity. The widespread establishment of computer modeling as a hobby seems to me one clearly necessary aspect of broadening cultural participation, just as reading for pleasure and writing for personal purposes were necessary driving factors for widespread use of text. - Why simulation modeling should become a popular hobby http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/papers/files/simhobby-local.htm http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/papers/files/simhobby-local....