[FRIAM] the arc of socioeconomics, personal and public: was VPN server

[Frank Wimberly]

I have a "mental map" of the streets of Santa Fe.  I can plan a route to
the dump, or even alternative routes, which I can then successfully
follow.  Model or figment?

I'm sure you've heard many times that all models are wrong; some are useful.

Frank


Frank Wimberly
Phone (505) 670-9918

On Apr 22, 2017 5:01 PM, "glen ☣" <gepropella at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 04/22/2017 11:44 AM, Frank Wimberly wrote:
> > "I argue that this mental model is a figment of your imagination..."
> >
> > In other words, a mental model.
>
> Heh, no.  Despite being a huge term that covers almost everything under
> the sun, "model" _does_ at least require a referent.  A purely imaginary
> construct has no referent.  It is purely imaginary.  So not just any old
> brain fart can be called a "mental model".  And whatever you and Vladimyr
> mean by "mental models" are pure imaginary brain farts with no referent.
> I.e. they don't exist.  Anyone who uses the phrase "mental model" has zero
> idea what they're talking about, because they're talking nonsense. >8^D
>
> I do grudgingly tolerate "conceptual model", FWIW, only because I believe
> we can/might eventually find neural correlates of concepts, like when, say,
> one's pupils dilate in response to an attractive person.  A conceptual
> model would then be a system of physiological activity that _maps_ to some
> phenomena in the outside world.  But, it's important that if there's no
> _map_ to the outside world, then it can't be a model.  I.e. no measure, no
> model.
>
> --
> ☣ glen
>
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