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  • 14 - Simulating Religion

  • from Part III - Religious Studies
  • Edited by Beth Singler, Universität Zürich, Fraser Watts, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Companion to Religion and Artificial Intelligence
    Published online:
    20 November 2024
    Print publication:
    21 November 2024, pp 241-256

  • Summary

    Simulating religion through computer modelling can demonstrate how fragmentary theories relate, untangle individual lines of causal influence, identify the relative importance of causal factors and enable experimentation that would never be possible (or ethical) in the real world. This chapter reviews the application of computational modelling and simulation to religion, presents findings from specific simulation studies and discusses some of the philosophical issues raised by this type of research. Social simulations are artificial complex systems that we can use to study real-world complex systems. The best of these simulation models are carefully validated in relation to real-world data. Multilevel validation justifies confidence that the causal architecture of the simulation reflects real-world causal processes, thereby delivering an invaluable proxy system into the hands of researchers who study religion.