For the longest time, I´ve been trying to understand other people’s model of reality. A model is a representation of a system and we use them everywhere, in science, in computers, in politics, in economics… A model rarely correlates with reality but is often the best way we have to understand it. Some are simple and some are extremely complex, the latter one not necessarily being better. Take for example the “Standard Model of particle physics”, while it is a great model and allows us to make a lot of assumptions about the world that usually turn out to be true, no one has found a way to fit antimatter inside it. So, even though we know that the model is not perfect, it´s still really useful for most cases since it´s close to the real way our system works.
I like models because they can help explain many phenomena that would otherwise be inexplicable. I particularly like the model that each one of us creates in our lives to try to make sense of all the things going on around us. I believe that, by trying to understand each other’s models we can get more productive discussion and overall better quality-of-life. I also believe that it is good that there are many different models, and having one forced upon us will end in disaster. Unluckily, some models crash with others on such a fundamental level that, while not impossible, it´s really difficult for them to coexist.
I enjoy reading blogs like this one because the stream of mind unfiltered thoughts are a great way to dive into someone’s model, though probably not as profound as a real face-to-face conversation. One of the main reasons for me to start this blog was to spread my model into the world since I have a lot of things to say and I don’t want to torment my neighbor anymore.
By that, I don´t want to imply that my model is nowhere near complete or perfect, but I want to think that I (like anyone else in the world), have a particular set of knowledge and experiences that can make it interesting. The best model is not the one that can bring us the best outcome at a particular moment, but the one that can encompass as much as possible with the best detail possible. The best models are those that change dynamically with their environment upon learning new info or disproving old notions.
Originally, I intended on writing one or maybe two posts trying to explain the basics, mostly politics, and economics, since I know that in half a year my model will have changed a lot. I was trying to create a kind of record of my beliefs to be able to review them over the years. Now I find myself being a bit more ambitious, and while I will keep myself mostly to smaller topics, I will try to make anything I write last, meaning that those are values that I am deeply convinced about and hopefully won’t change a lot during my lifetime.
In some roundabout way, what I´m trying to do is philosophy, and regrettably, I´m a bit lacking in that aspect. Many of the things I talk about have already been addressed by people with much more facial hair than me, and possibly more “life experiences”. That does not discourage me for now.
In short, models are everywhere and affect every aspect of our life. Models aren´t perfect. Every person has a model by which they understand the world. Understanding not only that model but the how they arrived at that model, it´s not only interesting but also useful. I will try, to the best of my ability, to explain my model for many facets of life, usually prefaced by some other model that inspired mine or that I ripped off directly.