The need of tearing down the walls between disciplines and emphasize transdisciplinary approach within a multidimensional framework.

Mehdi Saqalli (1) , Nicolas Maestripieri (1) , Melio Sáenz (2) , Mahamadou Belem (3)

1 GEODE - Géographie de l'environnement
2 Centre latino américain de calcul scientifique de l'informatique industrielle
3 LEHA - Laboratoire Hydrologie et Ressources en Eau

« We have not enough data about that ». This is often the answer one modeler may encounter while he/she is asking about one process an issue and by then a model to build needs to construct. The common answer the modeler think about is " ok, but then? We can do something ugly, fuzzy, and not precise but clearly, the mistake will be lower than not putting the process because of the lack of data ". Even more, the " not-enough-data " assertion is theoretically always valid: whatever the issue, data will be lacking. Where to position the limit after which one can say " ok, let us combine what we know to see it has a meaning " , i.e. try to build a theory, a model of the reality for answering a question? More generally, our purpose in this communication is to argue that asking " how can we model without all the necessary information? " means actually " " how can we model? ". One may consider that modelling is the last avatar of the less known and less visible and valorizing second part of research: the construction and creation of theories from data and information scientists have previously collected. This demarche, often called " inductive " in the most accepted hypothetico-deductive research approach, i.e. deduction, induction and abduction (Blecic & Cecchini, 2008, p. 539-540), implies to combine altogether " elements " , pieces of science along a plan that may enlighten an issue. This may have been assessed in the past along an intuitive process, such as described by Bergson (1911): he described this capacity of connecting processes, patterns and dynamics along sometimes illogical analogies, comparisons and consistencies as a purely human action, impossible to formalize. Nowadays, modelling tools, especially when implemented to integrate both qualitative and quantitative information and rules, do have this ability if and only if they are used along a formalized and epistemologically relevant methodology. They can then be used as a way to explicit relations along a systemic approach. We do consider that they should be used as a way to fulfill the second fraction of research: connecting data.

Mots clés: modelling; connecting data

Domaines: Modélisation et simulation; Sciences de l'Homme et Société; Sciences de l'environnement; Environnement et Société

Mehdi Saqalli, Nicolas Maestripieri, Melio Sáenz, Mahamadou Belem. The need of tearing down the walls between disciplines and emphasize transdisciplinary approach within a multidimensional framework.. Conférence SAGEO, Nov 2015, Hammamet, Tunisia. ⟨hal-01683866⟩