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Accepting Our Own Ignorance

Writer's picture: Joel GreenawayJoel Greenaway

Updated: Oct 7, 2022

Alfred Korzybski, a Polish-American scientist, said that "the map is not the territory". He re-introduced the idea that we don’t know everything, and that we should be willing to admit ignorance - i.e. that our maps might not fully reflect the territory - in order to continue to grow as people.

Explanation

The map and territory is used to illustrate the difference between the actual world and our understanding of the world as we perceive it to be. Consider the ‘map’ our understanding of the ‘territory’, or of reality.


Imagine you’re out on a long hike. You’ve been following your map and you should arrive at your destination soon. As you descend down a hill, you notice that you can’t find the road to your destination. The road is on the map, but it’s not there - your map must be out of date!



Now it's clear what the difference is between your map and the territory. Your map is simply a representation of what someone thought the land looked like at the time it was the produced, but the territory is the reality we have to deal with (there is no road!). Our maps might show the road, but that doesn't mean it actually exists. Similarly, drawing a road onto your map doesn't make a road pop up in real life!


The idea of maps vs territory extends further into a metaphor for the differences between our beliefs and reality itself. Reality exists outside of our minds, but we all carry around maps of this ‘territory’. We draw maps of this reality based on our experiences and perceptions.


 

Change the map, but that doesn’t change the territory

When you're hiking, there's no point in changing the map to what you want to be true. Even if you wanted a road that's more flat or a picturesque waterfall, changing the map doesn’t change the reality of what's around you. It’s obvious, we know, but we make this sort of mistake all the time when it comes to our beliefs. Having a false belief is like having a map of the world that doesn’t correspond to the territory - it’s much less useful!


Haven't we all been guilty of wishful thinking?

“If I don't go to work today, someone else will do the work for me...”

“I’ve been having these heart palpitations for months, but I’m still young! They can’t be a sign of something serious...”

In all these situations, changing what we believe about the world doesn’t change reality itself. Just like how you can't draw a road or a waterfall into existence, you still have worrying medical symptoms, and lots of work to do by the end of the day!


Instead of trying to change our map to how we want things to be, we should fix our maps so they’re as closely aligned with the territory as possible. An accurate view of reality puts us in a better place to take effective action (like seeing the doctor when you need to!).


Want to talk more? Get in touch with us today.





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