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Maps, the territory, and meta-rationality | Meta-rationality

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“The map is not the territory”—what is it then? How do rational models actually work?

“The map is not the territory.” A much-quoted aphorism… but I’ve often wondered what it means. Who ever thought that the map was the territory? No one could make this mistake regarding an actual map. Apparently this is a metaphor… What is it supposed to imply? 1 The basic meaning of the metaphor is that representations (such as maps) do not perfectly reflect what they represent. Unthinkingly following an inaccurate map, you might try to drive to an island in the Pacific Ocean . Analogous mistakes are more common with other sorts of representations. This essay uses the metaphor to introduce sev

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