Is There a Balance Between Usefulness and Accuracy of Models?

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Nate: We don't want to throw away the baby with the bathwater. But we have to bear in mind that they really are effectively just mathematical encapsulations of expert judgment. And so then we go back to the question of who is an expert, who do you want to be telling you what your future should look like? Do you want it to be the sort of elite, well educated, middle class people in universities, or do we want a more pluralistic approach?"

On this episode, Dr. Erica Thompson joins Nate to unpack her recent book Escape From Model Land. Erica explores the pitfalls of conventional science models and the opportunities by which models can augment our imagination and collective understanding. What is a model, and how do our worldviews shape the way they’re made - and conversely, how do they shape our worldviews? How can we rethink and bring creativity into something as scientific as modeling to create maps of the future that are both more accurate and - most importantly - more helpful to planning responses?

About Eric Thompson:

Dr Erica Thompson is a Senior Policy Fellow at the LSE Data Science Institute, where she works on a broad programme of theoretical and practical research about mathematical models, their use, interpretation and social context. She recently authored Escape From Model Land (Basic Books, 2022) which explores the opportunities and challenges of augmenting our imagination about the future with mathematical tools.

For Show Notes and More visit https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/55-erica-thompson