# The map is not the territory #mentalmodel ## Source - https://fs.blog/2015/11/map-and-territory/ - [[book - Wardley Maps]] ## Keywords (topics and howto) - [[topic - mental models]] - [[how to make better decisions]] - [[how to avoid common biases (brain shortcuts)]] ## Relevant notes - [[zt - avoiding common biases]] - for many people, the model creates its own reality ## Notes - A map is an abstraction of reality that place things logically. By being an abstraction, a map loses information to save "space." - Mental models are maps. Any approximation, rule of thumb and shortcut is a map - A map is incorrect - A 1:1 map is useless. What you want is a reduction of reality in a way that serves you. - A map is always incorrect but can be very useful - A map is a snapshot in time of reality. It represents something that does not exist anymore. - A map needs interpretation, which can be flawed in its own right - All models are wrong, but some are useful." — George Box - Having a map versus not having a map is a huge improvement. - Knowing where you are on the map is critical to use a map, as is having a sense of direction and movement [[book - Wardley Maps]] - Past worst cases are a terrible indicator of how things can go wrong in the future - Using the past to build a model predicting the future is limited by the extent of the past. The worst case is based on what we know but might be different in the future - "worst case" event happened in the past, you would have _not_ been using the coming "worst case" as your worst case because it wouldn't have happened yet. - Nassim - !!! When the map and terrain differ, follow the terrain. - We create complicated models to give us a feeling a control. The model is a map, and the more complicated the model the more fragile it is as more and more assumptions are backed in it. Better more model each with a limited number of known assumptions.