Introduction to Social Simulation

Mario Paolucci; CNR, Roma  and ETSE, Valencia.

I will shortly introduce the idea of (agent-based) social simulation as a novel research method in the social sciences, from its origins to the recent developments, namely the big data approach and the (failed) FuturICT flagship. To illustrate the difference between the agent-based approach and the equation-based one, I will use some example models, from the classic Shelling's segregation model to more recent and complex ones. While predictability of societal changes and the so-called "end of history" have recently shown to be just illusions, new opportunity to understand the mix of technical and social matters that shape our current society might be at hand, an opportunity that could be shaped by advances in social simulation.