Model-dependent realism

The model-dependent realism is one of Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow Illustrated in her book "The great design" epistemological concept of scientific realism .

The key message is that all models that deliver an accurate forecast can be regarded as real. So none of these models can be classified as “more real”. As a result, there is no such thing as a “right” reality.

An example is a goldfish that sees a distorted view of the outside world in its fishbowl. According to Hawking and Mlodinow, the models that a theoretical goldfish physicist in a glass would make of his view of the world would be just as real as ours as outside observers, even if they seem distorted from our perspective.

literature

• Stephen W. Hawking; Leonard Mlodinow: The great draft: a new explanation of the universe . Rowohlt Taschenbuch-Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-499-62301-1 .