Models are tools to help us reason clearly about the world. They help us deal with complexity in manageable chunks by focusing on salient parts of a problem, ra

Models are tools to help us reason clearly about the world. They help us deal with complexity in manageable chunks by focusing on salient parts of a problem, rather than the whole. From my course notes, a nearly comprehensive summary of how the social sciences use models was presented: 16 uses of modeling outside prediction include from Epstein, Joshua M. (2008). Why Model?. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation: 1. Explain (very distinct from predict) 2. Guide data collection 3. Illuminate core dynamics 4. Suggest dynamical analogies 5. Discover new questions 6. Promote a scientific habit of mind 7. Bound (bracket) outcomes to plausible ranges 8. Illuminate core uncertainties 9. Offer crisis options in near-real time 10. Demonstrate tradeoffs / suggest efficiencies 11. Challenge the robustness of prevailing theory through perturbations 12. Expose prevailing wisdom as incompatible with available data 13. Train practitioners 14. Discipline the policy dialogue 15. Educate the general public 16. Reveal the apparently simple (complex) to be complex (simple)