Belief Systems and the Modeling Relation

Authors: Roberto Poli

Publish Date: 2015/03/07

Volume: 21, Issue: 1, Pages: 195-206

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Abstract

The paper presents the most general aspects of scientific modeling and shows that social systems naturally include different belief systems ie different models Belief systems differ in a variety of respects most notably in the selection of suitable qualities to encode and the internal structure of the observables The following results emerge from the analysis 1 conflict is explained by showing that different models encode different qualities which implies that they model different realities 2 explicitly connecting models to the realities that they encode makes it possible to clarify the relations among models 3 by understanding that social systems are complex one knows that there is no chance of developing a maximal model of the system 4 the distinction among different levels of depth implicitly includes a strategy for inducing change 5 identitypreserving models are among the most difficult to modify 6 since models do not customarily generate internal signals of error strategies with which to determine when models are out of synch with their situations are especially valuable 7 changing the form of power from a zero sum game to a positive sum game helps transform the nature of conflicts

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