![]() The class command defines a new class under which you can define various attributes (variables, properties) and methods (functions, actions). ![]() ![]() For example, we can define an empty agent class as follows: Instead, we will use Python’s dynamic class as a pure data structure to store agents’ attributes in a concise manner. It is often convenient and customary to define both agents’ attributes and behaviors using a class in object-oriented programming languages, but in this textbook, we won’t cover object-oriented programming in much detail. They can be translated into the following design tasks in actual coding using a programming language like Python: In the meantime, items 2, 3, 4, and 5 in Macal and North’s list above are more focused on the technical aspects of modeling. My point is that we shouldn’t misinterpret outcomes obtained from such exploratory ABMs as a validated prediction of reality. Of course, a free exploration of various collective dynamics by testing hypothetical agent behaviors to generate hypothetical outcomes is quite fun and educational, with lots of intellectual benefits of its own. ![]() Otherwise, the simulation results would have no implications for the real-world system being modeled. These two approaches are different in terms of the scales of the known and the unknown (A uses micro-known to produce macro-unknown, while B uses micro-unknown to reproduce macro-known), but the important thing is that one of those scales should be grounded on well-established empirical knowledge. The former is to use ABMs to make predictions using validated theories of agent behaviors, while the latter is to explore and develop new explanations of empirically observed phenomena.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |