A psychologist has developed a computer model of the interactions of employees in a public-works department, to study how new technologies spread within workplaces. A team of sociologists has built a computer model of the U.S. population to test the effects of economic reforms on individuals. I think this is total nonsense. There's nothing any more special about humans than there is about electrons, other than that electrons always use the same rule of behavior and humans don't. Skeptics, however, see modeling as a fad with limited potential.
Human behavior is simply too complex to be simulated and predicted by computers, they say.
Others, including even some supporters of the research approach, warn that, if it became widespread, it might draw researchers away from field studies. Scott Page, an associate professor of economics at the University of Iowa, has developed an exercise to explain agent-based modeling for an undergraduate course he teaches. He asks his students to imagine an audience at a theater performance. At the end of the show, the audience may or may not give a standing ovation. Each person in the audience makes a decision to sit or stand while clapping, and people often follow the examples of those nearby.