Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
DOI | 10.1029/2019WR026471 |
Debates: Does Information Theory Provide a New Paradigm for Earth Science? Sharper Predictions Using Occam's Digital Razor | |
Weijs, Steven. V.1; Ruddell, Benjamin. L.2 | |
2020-02-01 | |
发表期刊 | WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH |
ISSN | 0043-1397 |
EISSN | 1944-7973 |
出版年 | 2020 |
卷号 | 56期号:2 |
文章类型 | Editorial Material |
语种 | 英语 |
国家 | Canada; USA |
英文摘要 | Occam's Razor is a bedrock principle of science philosophy, stating that the simplest hypothesis (or model) is preferred, at any given level of model predictive performance. A modern restatement often attributed to Einstein explains, "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." Using principles from (algorithmic) information theory, both model descriptive performance and model complexity can be quantified in bits. This quantification yields a Pareto-style trade-off between model complexity (length of the model program in bits) and model performance (information loss in bits, or the missing information, needed to describe the original observations). Model complexity and performance can be collapsed to one single measure of lossless model size, which, when minimized, leads to optimal model complexity versus loss trade-off for generalization and prediction. Our view puts both simple data-driven and complex physical-process-based models on a continuum, in the sense that both describe patterns in observed data in compressed form, with different degrees of generality, model complexity, and descriptive performance. Information theory-based assessment of compression performance with fair and meaningful accounting for model complexity will enable us to best compare and combine the strengths of physics knowledge and data-driven modeling for a given problem, given the availability of data. "Suppose we draw a set of points on paper in a totally random manner" ..."I am saying it is possible to find a geometric line whose notation is constant and uniform, following a certain law, that will pass through all points, and in the sameorder they were drawn." ... "But if that law is strongly composed,the thing that conforms to it should be seen as irregular"Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, 1686: Discours de metaphysique V, VI (from French) |
英文关键词 | algorithmic information theory Occam' s razor physically based modeling model complexity data compression data-driven modeling |
领域 | 资源环境 |
收录类别 | SCI-E |
WOS记录号 | WOS:000535672800034 |
WOS关键词 | COMPRESSION ; KNOWLEDGE ; MODELS |
WOS类目 | Environmental Sciences ; Limnology ; Water Resources |
WOS研究方向 | Environmental Sciences & Ecology ; Marine & Freshwater Biology ; Water Resources |
引用统计 | |
文献类型 | 期刊论文 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/280489 |
专题 | 资源环境科学 |
作者单位 | 1.Univ British Columbia, Dept Civil Engn, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 2.No Arizona Univ, Sch Informat Comp & Cyber Syst, Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Weijs, Steven. V.,Ruddell, Benjamin. L.. Debates: Does Information Theory Provide a New Paradigm for Earth Science? Sharper Predictions Using Occam's Digital Razor[J]. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH,2020,56(2). |
APA | Weijs, Steven. V.,&Ruddell, Benjamin. L..(2020).Debates: Does Information Theory Provide a New Paradigm for Earth Science? Sharper Predictions Using Occam's Digital Razor.WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH,56(2). |
MLA | Weijs, Steven. V.,et al."Debates: Does Information Theory Provide a New Paradigm for Earth Science? Sharper Predictions Using Occam's Digital Razor".WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 56.2(2020). |
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