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"All models are wrong. Some models are useful." is the way that I have heard this thesis quipped. I suppose "All models are wrong. Some models are more wrong than others." would fit Asimov's points better, but I've never actually heard that one


Also, some models aren't even wrong, because they fail to make testable predictions



The map-territory relation is possibly a better fit?

More specifically how Alfred Korzybski put it: "The map is not the territory".

The map will never be the territory, and we are just looking for better maps.


My father-in-law, something of a renaissance man, and also a long-time successful commodities trader, regularly uses your latter expression. The first time I heard him say it, I attempted to correct him (“some are useful”) and he confidently brushed me aside. As I’ve matured, I’ve grown confident that his (your) version is less wrong.




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