From root: Why should I simulate the real world?
What are simulations for?
Above all, for asking ‘what happens next if I do this?’ about systems we cannot freely experiment on. One of the most compelling uses for simulations of real-world systems is in powering decision-making technologies.
If you want to answer questions like ‘if I take this action, then what will happen in my system?’, then it is often essential to build a simulation of your system and use this to simulate what might happen in the future.
References and further reading
Box, George E. P. 1976. “Science and Statistics.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 71 (356): 791–99. https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1976.10480949.
Epstein, Joshua M. 2008. “Why Model?” Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation 11 (4): 12. https://www.jasss.org/11/4/12.html.
Hardwick, Robert J. 2026. “Why should I simulate the real world?” umbralcalculations, May. https://umbralcalc.github.io/posts/why_should_i_simulate_the_real_world.html.
Law, Averill M., and W. David Kelton. 2014. Simulation Modeling and Analysis. 5th ed. McGraw-Hill.
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