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spline ('splIn), n 1. a thin wood or metal strip used in building construction 2. a key that is fixed to one of two connected mechanical parts and fits into a keyway in the other; also : a keyway for such a key 3. a function that is defined on an interval, is used to approximate a given function, and is composed of pieces of simple functions defined on subintervals and joined at their endpoints with a suitable degree of smoothness
Etymology: origin unknown Date: 17561

On Models

An interesting property of models, one that is often lost in the search for better and better models, is a simple truth about their nature: they are incomplete.

The notion of a "perfect model", while making sense intuitively, is in fact nonsense; in order to "perfectly model" the behavior of some thing, the thing itself must be used, not a model of the thing. To explore the converse, if a model were to perfectly emulate the behavior of some thing, would it not be the thing itself?

In order for a model to have any utility, it must have some value in predicting the future behavior of the thing that it is a model of. Each model has its own unique set of contraints that define the reality that it accurately portrays for the thing it is attempting to model.

In this way, it can be said that the model is a reality spline, an approximation within a set of constraints of the reality of the thing that it is a model of.

All That Is

To perfectly model something, one must model its containing system. Inductively, this means that any perfect model must contain the entire universe. Therefore, anything in this world is said to be smaller than the entire universe is an imperfect model and not a 'thing' at all.

There is one real thing in the world: everything. Everything else is a polite fiction.

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