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by frickinLasers 253 days ago
Yes, it probably is. Have you ever heard of the spherical cow?*

Simplifying the surface makes it possible to model the system with equations that can be solved analytically--which gives theorists something to work on. Modeling more complex systems (which often happens, eventually) typically requires lots of computing power and results in a model that doesn't generalize well.

* https://www.sphericalcowblog.com/spherical-cows