Comment by stcredzero

I'd agree that a hidden Markov model that does POS tagging with high accuracy doesn't provide an intellectually satisfying model for "how language works", but you don't need to have a model for "how language works" in order to use it.

I'd agree that an adhoc equation that fits observed core sample data doesn't provide an intellectually satisfying model for "how sedimentation works", but you don't need to have a model for "how sedimentation works" in order to use it.

That's actually from something I worked on a long time ago. People actually use adhoc models of sedimentation and the formation of sedimentary rock for practical purposes. I also think most people suspect that we'd learn something valuable by figuring out the underlying reason why the data fits the particular description.