All models are wrong, some are useful.

‘All models are wrong, some are useful.”

I have been massaging this insight into my thinking for years. Why? Because it points out a natural limitation to the models we rely on. Accepting this limitation generates a number of very liberating implications.

Just as a map is not the territory being mapped (a map of New York is not New York), the model of a thing is not the thing being modeled. No matter how accurate a model is, the model is always different from what it is modeling.

What kinds of liberating insights come when taking this state of affairs seriously? Here is one:

We function socially by building mental representations of the people in our lives. Mental representations are models. “All models are wrong”. Our models are not the people they are modeling. Therefore, our interpretations of people and their behaviors are always partial, incomplete, and at least a little bit wrong.

For me this simple insight creates a sense of freedom. I am free of any expectation that I can achieve a complete understanding of another person, and the other person is always necessarily free, in my mind, to be something different than what I think they are. Always.

If you would like to reference this page here is an APA Style citation:
Smith, T. (2026). All models are wrong, some are useful. Small-Infinities. https://small-infinities.com/surfaces/all-models-are-wrong