You flick the switch. A light comes on. You flick it again. The light goes off. Flick. On. Flick. Off. Flick. On. And so on. So how certain are you that flicking the switch caused the light to come on? It's not a trick question, but you can take a pause to think if needed.
I agree strongly with much of this, but as someone who does (or tries to do) modeling, I don't know how easily studying system-level phenomena could adhere to some of these expectations. Some would say it can't: the whole endeavor is hopeless, not science, punishable by the death penalty, etc. The questions in this domain are difficult to pose and harder to answer. All modeling is a sort of fantasy (but frankly, I'm not sure it's that much more fantastical than regression). Sometimes coarse, qualitative insights are all you can get, and you don't know that they're leading you in the right direction. That can still be progress.
Anyway, I'm on the bus, and maybe in the bottom part of the triangle...
I agree strongly with much of this, but as someone who does (or tries to do) modeling, I don't know how easily studying system-level phenomena could adhere to some of these expectations. Some would say it can't: the whole endeavor is hopeless, not science, punishable by the death penalty, etc. The questions in this domain are difficult to pose and harder to answer. All modeling is a sort of fantasy (but frankly, I'm not sure it's that much more fantastical than regression). Sometimes coarse, qualitative insights are all you can get, and you don't know that they're leading you in the right direction. That can still be progress.
Anyway, I'm on the bus, and maybe in the bottom part of the triangle...