/sci/ - Science & Math

>>8938112
ABM is usually contrasted with equation based modeling and system dynamics. Where EQB and system dynamics usually deal with the relationships between the stocks and flows of aggregate variables like GDP, GINI coefficient, or HDI, ABMs are designed at the micro-level.

When someone designs an agent based model, they program only the rules of behavior for however many individuals they choose to put into the model. Once the rules for the agents are laid out, each agent follows its programmed behavior on a spacial plane. Usually, the result is something that one would not expect given the prescribed rules at the individual level, a property called emergence.

What is interesting about ABMs is that they need not be exclusive to social systems. Anything you can think of could be counted as an individual in an ABM so long as you can describe its behavior. These individuals could be cells in a culture, individual muscle fibers, or molecules in a solution.

In short, it allows a researcher to create a space where components of a system act according to safe assumptions or known rules about their behavior, and see how it affects large-scale measurements

how bout that computational econ tho?

>>8845886
>What is it like to be a social scientist ?

I'm having fun and I'm only an undergrad.

Quantitative social science can be an extremely deep and satisfying field if you know where to look.

Quantitative SS opens up re-examination of such fundamental questions about civilization and society in amazing ways - like for example, a lot of economists are starting to create computer simulations of social systems and a lot of them have revealed parallel structures between social and ecological systems. Or how new game theory models show how the success of agriculture at the dawn of civilization might have been due to the simultaneous adoption of property rights. Or statistical analyses that show how globalization might be making wars more localized rather global.

This stuff is just the tip of the iceberg. I love this shit.

>>8838675
My favorite class right now is on computational economics.

It all about building agent based models to simulate complex adaptive systems using cellular automata.

Pic related is a model I'm working on now - I am modifying an existing model of urban housing patterns as a function of job center location and real estate prices.