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Policy realism introduction
SECTION TWO POLICY
REALISM
INTRODUCTION Models are used for two main purposes in scientific practice. Some are constructed to be used to display salient features of things and processes which we have already observed. Different ways of constructing models will highlight different features of the subject of the model as salient. However, some models are constructed to represent that which we have not observed. There many ways in which the target of a model making procedure may be hidden from observation. This distinction in role parallels a distinction that can be drawn between realms of beings based on the way that they are related to the unassisted and extended senses. Let us call the realm of beings that have been observed, 'Realm 1'. This realm includes everyday objects as well as those kinds of beings that the sciences have made visible, audible and so on, such as bacteria and the asteroids. The realm of beings that have not been observed at any moment in the history of a science splits fuzzily into two subrealms. There are those which could be observed if we had the technical means. Let us say that beings of this kind are in Realm 2. Before the advent of electron microscopy, viruses and molecular lattices were then and there unobservable. They were Realm 2 beings. The development of new technologies of instrumentation changed the status of such beings so that are taken now to be included in Realm 1. However, the developments of modeling in physics and chemistry, cosmology and even psychology, have forced scientists to include in the scope of science a realm of beings which could never be observed. Let us call the domain of such beings Realm 3. Beings typical of Realm 3 include charges, fields of potential, magnetic poles, background radiation, and many others. Creating models to represent the beings of Realm 3 is a very different cognitive process from modeling beings in Realm 2. In the course of developing the theory of thinking with models the three realms will be more carefully characterized, and the modeling procedures typical of each will be displayed in detail. This brief section is meant to serve only to introduce the 'Realms' terminology. It will be used throughout the chapters in this book. Realms 1, 2 and 3 overlap. This will turn out to be a fact of great importance in coming to understand how scientific research projects can be planned and executed. The broad divisions among possible targets of modeling can be laid out in a simple tree diagram:
48
Section Two: Introduction
The World as the target of all Modeling
That which has been observed
Realm I
That which has not been observed
Realm 2
Could be observed
Figure 1 Realms of Reality
Realm 3
Could not be observed
REALISM
INTRODUCTION Models are used for two main purposes in scientific practice. Some are constructed to be used to display salient features of things and processes which we have already observed. Different ways of constructing models will highlight different features of the subject of the model as salient. However, some models are constructed to represent that which we have not observed. There many ways in which the target of a model making procedure may be hidden from observation. This distinction in role parallels a distinction that can be drawn between realms of beings based on the way that they are related to the unassisted and extended senses. Let us call the realm of beings that have been observed, 'Realm 1'. This realm includes everyday objects as well as those kinds of beings that the sciences have made visible, audible and so on, such as bacteria and the asteroids. The realm of beings that have not been observed at any moment in the history of a science splits fuzzily into two subrealms. There are those which could be observed if we had the technical means. Let us say that beings of this kind are in Realm 2. Before the advent of electron microscopy, viruses and molecular lattices were then and there unobservable. They were Realm 2 beings. The development of new technologies of instrumentation changed the status of such beings so that are taken now to be included in Realm 1. However, the developments of modeling in physics and chemistry, cosmology and even psychology, have forced scientists to include in the scope of science a realm of beings which could never be observed. Let us call the domain of such beings Realm 3. Beings typical of Realm 3 include charges, fields of potential, magnetic poles, background radiation, and many others. Creating models to represent the beings of Realm 3 is a very different cognitive process from modeling beings in Realm 2. In the course of developing the theory of thinking with models the three realms will be more carefully characterized, and the modeling procedures typical of each will be displayed in detail. This brief section is meant to serve only to introduce the 'Realms' terminology. It will be used throughout the chapters in this book. Realms 1, 2 and 3 overlap. This will turn out to be a fact of great importance in coming to understand how scientific research projects can be planned and executed. The broad divisions among possible targets of modeling can be laid out in a simple tree diagram:
48
Section Two: Introduction
The World as the target of all Modeling
That which has been observed
Realm I
That which has not been observed
Realm 2
Could be observed
Figure 1 Realms of Reality
Realm 3
Could not be observed