Re: [Swarm-Modelling] Re: [Swarm-Support] Repast vs. Swarm

[Anju Dahiya]

Quoting Steve Railsback <address@hidden>:

> I must comment because I'm deep into producing a book on how to do 
> serious theoretical science with agent-based models. I think 
> "innovative" is a better word that dodgy, but I know exactly what Marcus 
> means. 

Thanks for a better substitute to the word ‘dodgy’! 

>To some people (including one reviewer of a draft of our book), 
> if you are not doing differential equations you are not doing science at 
> all. But all important innovations have to deal with that kind of 
> conservative response. I think agent-based modeling is rapidly becoming 
> mainstream in some fields, especially economics and ecology.

Very true! In ecology, Lou’s recent message about ATLSS is the important one.

IBM, though a different term, also worth mentioning is Volker’s:
Grimm V (1999). Ten years of individual-based modelling in ecology: what have we
learned, and what could we learn in the future? Ecological Modelling
115:129-148

But then there is other side too (OK the context is land use!):
Here an excerpt from: Helen Couclelis, WHY I NO LONGER WORK WITH AGENTS: A
CHALLENGE FOR ABMs OF HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS (Proceedings of an
International Workshop October 4–7, 2001, Irvine, California, USA)

“Agent-based modeling meets an intuitive desire to explicitly represent human
decision making when modeling systems where we know for a fact that human
decision making plays a major role. However, by doing so, the well-known
problems of modeling a highly complex, dynamic spatial environment are
compounded by the problems of modeling highly complex, dynamic decision-making
units interacting with that environment and among themselves in highly complex,
dynamic ways. The question is whether the benefits of that approach to spatial
modeling exceed the considerable costs of the added dimensions of complexity
introduced into the modeling effort. The answer is far from clear and in, my
mind, it is in the negative. But then I am open to being persuaded otherwise”.

The complete overview at:
http://www.csiss.org/maslucc/ABM-LUCC.htm#_Toc24263586

Sometimes simple words even though in bits & pieces (such as Marcus’s  message &
others) convey the message appropriately. I thought a nice piece to post in my
multiagent systems related list of questions for the group/persons open
otherwise.

I do agree “the advocacy of ABM is tiresome”.

Anju




address@hidden