Artificial Science: A Simulation to Study the Social Processes of Science

Science is a collective enterprise—it is not simply the aggregated efforts of individuals. In fact, some writers (e.g., Longino, 1990) go so far as to claim that the social processes particular to science are the only thing that distinguishes it from other activities. In any case, the social processes are critical to the success and character of what we know of as science. Here I exhibit a simulation that explores some of these. Traditionally, there is the “building-block” picture of science (Hempel, 1966), where knowledge is slowly built up, brick-by-brick, as a result of reliable contributions to knowledge—each contribution standing upon its predecessors. Here, as long as each contribution is checked as completely reliable, the process can continue abstract