Distributed computing frameworks like Hadoop and Spark believe enabled processing of "vast data" sets -- but that's not enough for modeling surprise/rare "black swan" or complex events. Just contemplate of scenarios in disaster planning (earthquakes,terrorist attacks, financial system collapse); biology (including disease); urban planning (cities, or transportation,energy power grids); military defense ... and other complex systems where unknown behaviors and properties can emerge. They can't be modeled based on (by definition impossible) limited data. But what if companies and governments *could* reply these seemingly impossible questions -- through simulations? MORE
Source: a16z.com