Re: mathematical nonsense

[Doug Donalson;]

I want to thank Mark and Chris for holding a mirror up to my face.  I 
can't read the last two articals without feeling somewhat shagrined
as I have had a part in a piece of this discussion that should never have 
started.  

There is no place in this group for name calling and trashing of others 
viewpoints.  This includes my comment that the truth hurts (or some such 
stupid thing.)  At least in the area of theoretical population ecology, 
people who have attempted to introduce spatially-explict individual-based
models have been met (by some) with scepticisum and sometimes disdain.  
It is very easy to fall into the same trap and find all the faults of the 
more mainstream ODE type models.  

Engaging in trash talk does nothing but set back the real purpose (I hope?)
of better understanding complex interactions.  There is no point in 
rejecting potentially useful tools (ODE or ABM) either because of "not 
invented here" or "you trash me so I'll trash you".  At UCSB we are using
analytical or numerical solutions of ODE type models as a first step in 
understanding and verifying the more complex models.  

Science involves the exchange of ideas in a conflict/resolution format.  
This can be done in either a postive or negative manor ( pun intended :-) )
This is something my advisor (Roger Nisbet) has gently tried to pound 
into my thick skull.  The best justification for complex models is good 
structured analysis of their strengths and weakneses.  Comparision 
between these and the simpiler models will allow us to understand when 
various assumptions are or are not valid and give us a better 
understanding of the level of detail necessary in a model to gain insite 
into a particular problem.

There is a place in this email group for anyone who is working with 
SWARM and this is a very valuable thread.  I hope it continues.  Lets try 
to keep the debate to constructive comments.

Cheers,

   Doug Donalson



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* Doug Donalson                          * Office: (805) 893-2962         *
* Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology * Home:   (805) 961-4447         *
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*       Isaac Asimov                                                      *
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