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From: bwk@mitre-bedford.ARPA (Barry W. Kort)
Newsgroups: sci.misc,talk.philosophy.misc
Subject: Re: The nature of reality.
Message-ID: <27440@linus.UUCP>
Date: 21 Mar 88 15:25:36 GMT
References: <343@thirdi.UUCP> <732@actnyc.UUCP> <356@thirdi.UUCP>
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Reply-To: bwk@mbunix (Kort)
Organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford, Mass.
Lines: 27
Keywords: reality credibility validity
Summary: The map is not the territory.  But both are real.

Psychologists like to speak of "psychic reality".  If the brain/mind/psyche
(choose one) constructs an internal model, map, or representation of the
external environment, then we must be clear on the distinction between
the map and the territory.

My internal map or model of the world is undergoing continual evolvement
and refinement.  I know that at every instant, my mental model of the
world is incomplete and innacurate.  It is like a mosaic, which has a
granularity which limits the precision to which I can resolve detail.
It also has a frontier beyond which I have as yet few pieces of the picture.

My map is real.  But my map is not the territory.  I believe my map, to
the extent that I rely on it to navigate through the world.  But I also
disbelieve my map, to the extent that I expect to find errors and
inaccuracies that cause me to walk into walls now and then.

I find that I am attracted to people who seem to have more accurate maps
than me.  I also find that I am attracted to people who have less
accurate maps than me, provided they wish to benefit from consultation
with my map.  I find that I am repelled by people who wish to overwrite
my map with their own, without my consent.

Of course, one of the most interesting (to me) corners of my map, is the
little piece that contains a model of the mapmaker himself.  I like to
watch the mapmaker at work, making a map of the mapmaker at work....

--Barry Kort