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All human understanding is about making models. We make mental models, verbal models, textual models, graphical models and models that live in computers. George Box is wrong when he said: "“all models are wrong, some models are useful". Box was a statistican. If he had qualified his statement to apply to his particular field he probably would have been correct (I am no statistician). However, there are many models that are totally correct and define reality. People develop models that define a product or solution. The model may be correct but the physical reality may deviate from the definition. Executable code in a calculator is 100% correct and determines how the device will work. Models embedded in software running in a car defines how it will operate. Models of encryption and decryption are 100% correct. Mathematics is the modelling language of physics. Applying mathematics to other areas such as sociology, eceonomics and business and expecting the same level of understanding and accuracy of predictions as with physics is dangerous. Let me rephrase that - it's just not possible. Most paradoxes are a sign that your model of understanding is being misapplied - usually to itself. Bernard Robertson-Dunn 2014 |