models

Each of us uses models constantly. Every person in his private life and in his business life instinctively uses models for decision making. The mental image of the world around you which you carry in your head is a model. One does not have a city or a government or a country in his head. He has only selected concepts and relationships which he uses to represent the real system. A mental image is a model. All of our decisions are taken on the basis of models. The question is not to use or ignore models. The question is only a choice among alternatives.

-Policy modeler Jay Forrester

how true, we all use models to see the world. Models are built on assumptions, hence it is inevitable that with models, we neglect certain information (that we deem unnecessary) or that our assumptions were wrong in the first place, especially so for normative models. Models help process the information around us into the way we want to see it, for better or for worse.

At first I thought that since models are always imperfect, we should do away with them, but after all they help us to make sense of our surroundings and are useful for improving our quality of life; it is probably unwise to do without them and live a static life. Perhaps it would be better to acknowledge that our models are flawed, and as the writer says, to be on the lookout for better alternatives.

I like it when work teaches you about life