Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
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Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
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Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#2Recommend adding (1996) to title. That doesn't take away from it, it just shows how prescient the thought was.
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#3Tangentially related: if anyone (or their kids) is bored with voxels, try Astroneer; it's more like virtual clay. https://astroneer.space/
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#4Tangentially related: if anyone (or their kids) is bored with voxels, try Astroneer; it's more like virtual clay. https://astroneer.space/
But if you cant build a quad core CPU inside the game then whats the point?
https://youtu.be/SPaI5BJxs5M
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#5> The fog surrounding economic projections, and the other uses and abuses of statistical evidence in politics, might lift at least a little.
The perpetual historical failure of academic economic modelers is a counterexample to this line of thinking; to think non-academically trained folks would fare better is laughable
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#6Like the Goat Simulator?
Seems like we are there?
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#7[deleted]
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#8Well I definitely spend most of my hobby time modeling 3D printed robots!
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#9I'd love to see more "gamey" and fun platforms for agent-based modeling (Sims, but with different types of goals to tweak!) and something for system dynamics modeling.
There's been a few runs at both, but for how poor human brains are at intuiting things about non-linear systems, and how desperately we need to understand them, more things in this area would be great!
Re: Computer Modeling Should Become a Popular Hobby
#10Agree broadly with everything in the article. However, I have one point to add:
> Physical models that reproduce behavior are limited by the physics of the world, while computer models have much looser bounds.
This is also one of the weak points of computer modeling. The outputs are strongly influenced by modeling assumptions, and without feedback from reality, one can easily be deluded towards wrong models. The computer simulation encodes the map not the territory. This is particularly true in hard to model fields like economics & finance. As long as one appreciates that, computer modeling is a powerful tool.
Regarding what would make modeling more accessible to computer users, I think the answer is an environment where users have access to the full live system (few boundaries) and can tweak it in real-time, with right feedback loops. Eg: Smalltalk, Lisp.