I recently came across the Modeler’s Hippocratic Oath while reading Cathy O’Neil’s ‘Weapons of Math Destruction’.
This was originally written by Emanuel Derman and Paul Wilmott in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
The Oath
- I will remember that I didn’t make the world, and it doesn’t satisfy my equations.
- Though I will use models boldly to estimate value, I will not be overly impressed by mathematics.
- I will never sacrifice reality for elegance without explaining why I have done so.
- Nor will I give the people who use my model false comfort about its accuracy. Instead, I will make explicit its assumptions and oversights.
- I understand that my work may have enormous effects on society and the economy, many of them beyond my comprehension.
