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Ontological Implications of Modeling and Simulation in Postmodernity

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Ontology, Epistemology, and Teleology for Modeling and Simulation

Part of the book series: Intelligent Systems Reference Library ((ISRL,volume 44))

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Abstract

Models and simulations are immediately obfuscated by being what they are, abstract representations of reality. With reductionist parameters and defined algorithms, models and simulations obtain a definitiveness lacking in the reality they explain. Increased computational power has enabled the production of complex representations. This increased complexity makes understanding what is happening “behind the scenes” almost entirely unintelligible to consumers. At the same time, advancements in Animation enable practitioners to present the results at almost movie-like levels of production. This subtly transforms the ontological status of the results, making them appear as something one should view rather than something about which one should think. What happens when producers and consumers of models and simulations lose the self-certainty associated with their project? Such a situation calls into question the performative aspects of both groups’ maneuvers. We situate the locus of this discussion around the notion of validity. Once considered essential, the quest for validity perhaps increasingly reveals a form of existential absurdity and, in a nihilistic twist of postmodern thought, the radical devaluation of one of the ideals of the philosophy of science.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wright State University, Dayton, OH, United States

    Brian L. Heath

  2. University of Phoenix, Dayton, OH, United States

    Ross A. Jackson

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  1. Brian L. Heath
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  2. Ross A. Jackson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Engineering Management &, Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, Kaufman Hall 242B, Norfolk, 23529, Virgin Islands, USA

    Andreas Tolk

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Heath, B.L., Jackson, R.A. (2013). Ontological Implications of Modeling and Simulation in Postmodernity. In: Tolk, A. (eds) Ontology, Epistemology, and Teleology for Modeling and Simulation. Intelligent Systems Reference Library, vol 44. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31140-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31140-6_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-31139-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-31140-6

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