Model Thinking Notes

Lectures

1

• Why use models?
  • Lots of fields use models
  • Models produce clearer thinking, make you a better thinker
  • Use and understand data
  • Decide, Strategize and design

2

How models make you a better citizen of the world

• "All models are wrong, but some are useful" George EP Box
• Models are the language of business, academia, non-profit, almost all purposes
• Models give us the conditions under which rules are best applied
• Formal models do better than any semi-formal technique
• Models are fertile, a model designed for one system can often be cross applied to other domains
• Models make us humble

3

How models make us clear thinkers

• Step 1: Name the parts
• Step 2: Identify the relationships (between those parts and how things play out)
• Outcomes: Equilibrium, cycle, random, complex
• Identify logical boundaries (identify conditions under which to apply rules)
• Use models to communicate

Readings

Why Model?

By: Joshua M. Epstein