I recently had to build some stringers for a deck. We had an original CAD with 11 steps (for a total of 12 including the top). When we produced the layout somehow we ended up laying out 10 steps instead of 11 because I wanted a specific tread depth (~10 inches). I figured why would one fewer step matter for anything structural? Well it turns out that 10% extra cut into my 2x12 left about an inch less in the beam of wood which was enough for a 12' span to bounce as you walk up and down!
I have learned that a universal unavoidable element to any model is that it oversimplifies the thing it is trying to explain. Sometimes that is OK and using the model we gain useful insight into a system. Other times the simplification of the model ruins its explanatory power. Academics can sometimes forget this I think in their eagerness to understand and explain things. Some models that have varying degrees of usefulness are the following: Newton's F=ma, supply and demand economics, Marxism vs capitalism, colonialism, post modernism, globalism vs nationalism, conservatism vs liberalism. We have to be very careful applying an overly simplistic model to complex phenomena. Sometimes our desire to understand something at a high level erodes our ability to understand it at all, especially when modeling human behavior where interactions fundamentally occur at the level of the individual.
Colonialism in my mind is a good example of this. We have a model (a simplification of reality) that says this is a specific time period in human history in which people groups migrated between areas trampling on indigenous cultures in the process. The reality is that this has happened since the dawn of civilization and will continue, that some colonists at some times respected the native peoples and the movement was mutually beneficial. I believe colonialism as a model has limited usefulness and it's much more useful to look at specific movements of peoples and what happened as a result.
I have learned that a universal unavoidable element to any model is that it oversimplifies the thing it is trying to explain. Sometimes that is OK and using the model we gain useful insight into a system. Other times the simplification of the model ruins its explanatory power. Academics can sometimes forget this I think in their eagerness to understand and explain things. Some models that have varying degrees of usefulness are the following: Newton's F=ma, supply and demand economics, Marxism vs capitalism, colonialism, post modernism, globalism vs nationalism, conservatism vs liberalism. We have to be very careful applying an overly simplistic model to complex phenomena. Sometimes our desire to understand something at a high level erodes our ability to understand it at all, especially when modeling human behavior where interactions fundamentally occur at the level of the individual.
Colonialism in my mind is a good example of this. We have a model (a simplification of reality) that says this is a specific time period in human history in which people groups migrated between areas trampling on indigenous cultures in the process. The reality is that this has happened since the dawn of civilization and will continue, that some colonists at some times respected the native peoples and the movement was mutually beneficial. I believe colonialism as a model has limited usefulness and it's much more useful to look at specific movements of peoples and what happened as a result.