A pox on simulations

[ericmurphy]

I don't think anyone was advocating basing public policy on sylas's simulation, SM. :-)

[shadowmaster]

I don't think anyone was advocating basing public policy on sylas's simulation, SM. :-)

I'm certain some nut on tweb might do that but it would not be Sylas' fault.

SM

[shadowmaster]

I don't think anyone was advocating basing public policy on sylas's simulation, SM. :-)

In running Silas's simulation, the United Nations has determined that the next human speciation event will take place in Bangkok at the 2015 POONer’s Convention, where a lot of inbreeding takes place. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon does not like this uncontrolled event and decides that the United Nations must proactively do something about it.

Funded by a grant from the HORMEL meatpacking industry, the United Nations runs advertisements for volunteers. The intent is to populate Easter Island, where humans are known to come and go, and get to the next speciation event before Bangkok does. Over 1000 volunteers (example attached) come forth from the AGW crowd who'll believe anything.

And the race is on.

SM

[Faid]

^^^ I don't know what is more absurd in the above; the series of decisions and events, or the fact that the UN are directing and enforcing them.

[sylas]

One day I may get around to posting a kind of summation of the ideas raised in this thread and my own thoughts on them. Maybe.

In the meantime, getting back to a more serious look at ways in which simulations can be used, there was an interesting blog at "Serendipity", a blog about climate science by a software engineer. (And hence with quite a few interesting blog articles relevant to this thread.)

The latest article is Teaching with Simulations.

That, of course, is what I was trying to do with my simulation. Steve's article, however, is mainly on climate models, and how existing models could be used and improved for education. The basic idea is that simulations allow students to experiment with a model. The article concludes with two examples from other areas in which simulations can be used in education.

Teaching with Simulations

... In the meantime, Rich suggested two examples of simple simulations of dynamical systems that get closer to what I’m looking for:

• The Shodor Disease model that lets you explore the dynamics of epidemics, with people in separate rooms, where you can adjust how much they can move between rooms, how the disease works, and whether immunization is available. Counter-intuitive lesson: crank up the mortality rate to 100% and (almost) everyone survives!
• The Shodor Rabbits and Wolves simulation, which lets you explore population dynamics of predators and prey. Counter-intuitive lesson: double the lifespan of the rabbits and they all die out pretty quickly!

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