3.16 Simulation Street
Binary Beasts - Aneesh, Ethan, Samarth
What is a Simulation?
A simulation is a program that models a real-world process or phenomenon.
Simulations are used when the real thing is:
- Too dangerous (crash testing, nuclear reactions)
- Too expensive (weather modeling, space missions)
- Too slow (evolution, climate change over centuries)
Simulations are always abstractions — they leave out details, so results may not perfectly match reality.
Why Simulation Results Differ from Reality
- Simplifying assumptions — not every real-world factor is included
- Incomplete data — wrong inputs lead to wrong outputs
- Randomness — two runs of the same simulation can give different results
- Missing variables — you can only model what you think to include
Simulation Street
You are running the food plan for a city festival. A real test day would be expensive, chaotic, and risky, so you will use a simulation instead.
Your job is to experiment.
- Tune the festival setup.
- Run one day to watch randomness play out.
- Run many trials to see patterns become more reliable.
- Clear missions by finding plans that survive uncertainty.
What this teaches
A simulation is a simplified model of a real situation. The results depend on:
- the assumptions you choose
- the randomness built into the model
- the number of trials you run