Don’t Trust Computer Simulations And Models That Can’t Be Tested Against Reality
Computer simulations of global warming and Darwinian mechanisms in biology should not be trusted, because they can’t be subjected to empirical verification. In these two areas, computer simulations and models can degenerate into nothing more than digital just-so stories — in one category about the future, and in the other about the past. The programmer can produce whatever outcome he desires, by choosing initial assumptions and algorithms, and weighting various factors to produce a desired output.
Unfortunately, when those in the general public hear the words “scientific” and “computer model,” they often assume that unassailable truth has been established.