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and apply this rule to the following information - talaq was said twice
by the husband to his
wife - we arrive at the result that the marriage continues.
If the wife says talaq three times to her husband, there is no prescribed result.
If the husband
says talaq three times, the marriage is dissolved.
Although not represented here, there is much more to talaq divorce. Such a divorce
is final. The
couple cannot remarry unless both are remarried beforehand.
Anthropology and Simulation
Anthropologists have been using simulation almost since the beginnings of the
discipline. In the field, although it is most desirable to witness performances of
ritual, preparation of materials etc. in person, this has not always been possible.
More recently, since the introduction of computers, simulation has taken on another
meaning; using computer models to explore social situations which could not otherwise
be easily investigated. In its infancy simulation consisted of relatively simple
numerical models which were iteratively executed towards a cumulative result, moderated
by the influences of other models as the simulation run progresses.
Heretofore simulation has mostly been applied in a contextual way, though there are
notable exceptions. By far the most important use of simulation in anthropology to
date has been to evaluate the interrelationships between demographic structure and
real or hypothetical social structures or cultural practices (cf. Hammel, Randolph
and Coult, Dyke and McCleur). Simulation has also been useful in relating aspects
of anthropology to policy (Nardi).
Buchler and Fischer have used simulation to choose between different models of land
allocation for horticulture in New Guinea, Fischer and Selby used simulations to
investigate the relationship between cultural models for agricultural planning and
crop yields.
New techniques for modelling became available in the late 1970s in the form of
knowledge representation by expert systems. Fischer and Fischer and Finkelstein have
done detailed work on marriage arrangement in the Punjab, Read and Behrens on literacy
in ...., Kippen modelled tabla improvisation, Benefer and .... the classification
of land types, and more recently Fischer has been working on modelling the recreation
of cultural traditions in the South Pacific.
These new approaches have not been properly exploited as yet. In part this has been
due to the accessibility to the non-specialist of both knowledge-based techniques
and the equipment needed to exploit knowledge-based techniques. There was also the
necessary period of basic research required to evaluate the applicability of these
methods to anthropological problems. Thirdly, there are newer prospects which promise
to make knowledge-based simulation much more relevant to the discipline and its applications.
Simulation is the ideal platform to extend current knowledge-based methods to anthropology.
As an actual model of cognitive processes KB models are not only unproven, but extremely
unlikely. In terms of producing predictive classificatory behaviour that is comparable
to those produced by actual cognitive processes, they are very successful. In particular
Fischer's research demonstrates that a sufficiently detailed knowledge-based model
produces classificatory results that are comparable to indigenous thinkers, and are
acceptable to them.
Although these models are not as yet satisfactory from the point of view of representing
the actual structure of indigenous thought, they are nevertheless useful in two capacities.
Firstly, as a more formal representation method for ethnographic data. Secondly as
components in computer simulations.
The typical structure of a simulation is a number of models of different order, which
interrelate at the level of their behaviour. For example, we might wish to produce
a simulation to investigate different methods of distributing active knowledge about
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) in a specific community. We will have available to
us demographic data, traditional and formal educational facilities and activities,
epidemiological data relating to relevant diseases over time, outlets for distribution,
outlets for notices, medical ethnography which relates indigenous thinking about
disease, clinical interview records, self-treatment strategies, sources consulted
for medical purposes, etc. And, of course, ethnographic data which relates to these
and other issues, in lesser and greater detail.
Some of these data can be represented using appropriate statistical procedures, linear
programming models, and other numerical techniques. Others will be defined using
algebraic or logical statements, represented in trees, graphs, lattices, or other
systems. It would be an enormous task to a priori interrelate these data into a single
formal system for analysis.
Simulation can be used as a tool for exploring just these connections. While the
formal description terms of each kind of data may be of different order, we can develop
a simulation model to investigate the interaction of these models to the extent the
models can a) generate behaviours/results, b) other models can use these behaviours/results
in generating their own behaviours/results, and c) we can state a useful problem
in terms of these interactions.
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