Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2021

Computer simulations seen from the standpoint of symbols

Résumé

Abstract: In choosing to analyse only specific types rather than the general idea behind them, authors who have studied computer simulations have most of the time been correct in defining them simply as "mathematical models immersed in time" (Hill, 1996), or as "a process imitating another process" (Hartman, 1996), or as "a time-ordered sequence of states that serves as a representation of some other time-ordered sequences of states" (Parker, 2009). Despite its peculiar, derivative, and non-central character, this emphasis on the priority of the temporal dimension of time and sequentiality in computer simulations remains indeed harmless when studying simple cases, i.e., based on a single type of formal model. It is when one moves to the epistemological analysis of more complex simulations, such as multi-model-based, multi-process, multi-scale, or multi-resolution simulations (Yilmaz et al., 2004; Hasenauer et al., 2015) that these characterizations prioritizing the temporal and sequential dimension fail to produce sufficiently fine-grained and correct interpretations of computer simulation practices. In this talk, based on different case studies from the life sciences as well as the social sciences (Phan, Varenne, 2010; Varenne, 2018), I will present another approach to simulations that conditions the temporal iconicity of the simulation - an aspect that is indeed frequently present but not systematically - to a priority function of symbolization, to its multiplicity and intricacy as well as to the interactions between symbols, and between levels of symbols. This complex function of symbolization, and symbol treating, both more generic and more fundamental, seems to underlie the various epistemic functions of contemporary computer simulations. From this standpoint, e.g., we can understand why a Monte-Carlo simulation of a probability law is neither temporal nor sequential in essence: it relies rather on regulated interactions between denotational levels of symbols. In this case, the simulation does not need to represent time or sequentiality at all to be a simulation. There is thus no iconic temporal representation of a passage of time. To present this symbol-oriented approach to computer simulations, I will mobilize and adapt some focused concepts from Nelson Goodman's theory of symbols, in particular his concepts of "denotational hierarchies" and "routes of reference" (Goodman, 1981), the latter understood as being travelled both within and between these hierarchies. -------------- References: Goodman N., Languages of Art: An Approach to a Theory of Symbols, Bobbs-Merrill, 1976, 1st edition: 1968. Goodman N., Routes of reference, Critical Inquiry, 1981, 8(1), 121-132. Hartmann S. “The world as a process”, in Hegselmann, R., Müller, U. & Troitzsch, K. (eds.) Modelling and simulation in the social sciences from the philosophy of science point of view, Kluwer, 1996, 77-100. Hasenauer, J., Jagiella, N., Hross, S., Theis, F. J., “Data-Driven Modelling of Biological Multi-Scale Processes”, Journal of Coupled Systems and Multiscale Dynamics, Volume 3, Number 2, June 2015, 101-121. Hill D.R.C., Object Oriented Analysis and Simulation, Addison-Wesley, 1996. Parker , W., “Does matter really matter: computer simulations, experiments and material¬ity”, Synthese, 2009, Vol. 169, No. 3, 483-496. Phan, D., Varenne, F., “Agent-based models and simulations in economics and social sciences: from conceptual exploration to distinct ways of experimenting”, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 2010, Vol. 13, No. 1, 5. Varenne, F., From models to simulations, Routledge, 2018. Yilmaz, L., Lim, A., Bowen, S., Ören, T., “Requirements and design principles for multisimulation with multiresolution, multistage multimodels”, 2007 Winter Simulation Conference, 2007, 823-832.

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Dates et versions

hal-05601003 , version 1 (23-04-2026)

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  • HAL Id : hal-05601003 , version 1

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Franck Varenne. Computer simulations seen from the standpoint of symbols. Käte Hamburger Kolleg Lecture Series, KHK; Gabriele Gramelsberger; Phillip Roth, Dec 2021, Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen), Germany. ⟨hal-05601003⟩
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