Why We are All Map Makers - a bit of (almost) free writing

What does this whole map/territory thing mean? This won't be short.

A map, in this use of the word, means (to me, of course) a system of organization for navigating a space. Here, "space" can mean many things as well. A familar one is an aerial view (the system) of a city or state (the space). All sorts of things can be thought of as maps. Music genres work as labels which organize music*, so it can be communicated about (or navigated). A history book about the first Moon landing is a map. A diagram of a hydrogen atom is a map. An equally valid word is model. It is my belief, that most of what the human mind does, is map-making. Maps, or models, are limited- they can never contain all of the information or they would cease to be maps. So, this means that all maps are an interpretation of the territory. Different map-makers will make different maps for different purposes. A map of downtown maybe lists all of the streets, all of the restaurants, or all of the five-star restaurants, or perhaps only the donut shops. Once more, it could chart the elevation of the ground, the inner workings of the sewer system, the population, the temperature, the list goes on and on and on and on. Maps or models seem to be everything we have in a sense. Even our past would appear to be a subjective interpretation of our memory.

What's more, maps are to be read. This complicates things even further as the reader's subjective ideas/biases/conclusions/beliefs, are at work when interpreting the map, defining and organizing that map into his or her own model of the universe. How often have you and a friend been recounting a past event, when one of you says something like, "that's not how it happened, it was like this"?

The point of this is really that labels are dangerous. If we become too sure of our maps, we can justify doing foolish things. I want to create a dialogue which aids in putting our models into context in order to establish a further clarity.

That was shorter than I expected.







*The word "music," itself, being a model which serves to simplify a complex idea.