Cognitive Behavioural

Psychology for Mental Health

and Wellness
THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY
 THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY

‘The Map Is Not The Territory’ was a phrase coined by Polish-American scientist and
philosopher Alfred Korzybski, who worked in the field of general semantics during the
1900’s. What does this phrase mean though? It means that the map is not the territory
it represents.

Of course, this makes sense on a primitive level: an actual map of Edinburgh, London, or Dublin for
CELEBRITIES
example, by necessity, isn’t to scale for practical reasons. But by highlighting to us that maps and
models are merely depictions of reality, not reality itself, Korzybski brings to our attention that the
way we accumulate
NEWS our knowledge about
THE reality is largely indirect.
ECONOMY
To create
WHAT usefully concise maps which offer city explorers nifty navigational information,
PEOPLE
cartographers deliberately filter out specific
FAMILYelements from their maps: buildings are removed,
THINK
some streets are left nameless, and you certainly can’t see the pedestrians on pavements and
OF ME
sidewalks.

Whilst this representation is useful in helping you to navigate from place to place, looking at a place
onFASHION
a map is completely different from being there physically, where you can experience the
unfiltered sensations of the location, and see all the beautiful details the map deemed
THREATS THE
unnecessary. WEATHER

We like maps and models, they are useful, and that’s why we rely on
WHAT’S
them. What’s important
TRENDING to remember is that the real world is always
developing; present states are changing.
A map of New York City from 1967 will be hugely different to a map from 2017, 50 years later. We
WHAT
as practitioners always hope for the better; so as the real world develops, soYOU
must our ‘maps’ and
BELIEVE
models. Physical and mental models of our realities are subject to change and upgrading. We are
always creating mental models of the world. The information available is too vast, and there is too
much stimulus for us to create a model and keep it for an YOUR
extended WHAT YOU
amount of time.
ATTITUDE
PIONEER

So, how do we go about updating our mental models? Well, WHAT now
YOUthat we’re aware weWHAT
have YOU
them, we
can start by noticing what we might otherwise overlook.WeBUY PLACES
need to question our assumptions
YOU VISIT LIKLE AND and
the stories we tell ourselves, about who and what we are, who other people are to us, and how the
DISLIKE
world works around us. It would also be sensible for us to look at where our own mental models have
WHAT YOU
come from. WHERE YOU
READ AND WRITE
LIVE
We all have unique ‘mental maps’ of the world we live in. Our mental maps are created from the
experiences we encounter every day, and our perceptions add colour to WHAT YOU
those experiences. As we
DO FOR WORK
all sense things in unique and personal ways, our mental maps are similar to our fingerprints.

No one has the same fingerprint, and no one has the same mental map. The world is massive,
complicated and truly beyond total comprehension. Mental Maps are our subjective perceptions of
the world as we see it; personal and individualistic depictions representative of the same world.

What is the purpose of our mental maps? They lay out the things that have happened to us and
formulate our perceptions of reality. Our maps influence our attitudes, and it
 THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY

is from them that we draw our opinions, conclusions, assumptions and beliefs. Our maps are drawn
from the information we unconsciously collect from our senses, which forms the complexities of
our reality and, consequently, our personal beliefs.

External information that we consume is filtered through our

senses, and forms our core beliefs. In essence, this is how our
mental map is made.
We as tend to confidently believe we’re objective, but unfortunately we may not be as objective as
we’d like to consider ourselves. Why? Because we are all conditioned to accept the world not as it
is, but as we are. Every decision and action we make in life is performed as per our awareness.

If our awareness is limited or faulty, so will our thoughts and actions.

We all have a different perspective from each other. This is why different people offer different
witness accounts of the same incident. The observations we make are primarily used to support
perceptions, experiences, assumptions, and beliefs however random or specific. To be the best
possible version of ourselves, it is crucial that we expand the perception of our reality.

When we believe in something so strongly, we are keen to call it the truth and will go to great
lengths to proclaim it. In turn, we can also find ourselves becoming defensive about our beliefs
when they conflict with beliefs of others.

Without the correct training and practice, our minds are not capable of holding conflicting beliefs,
and this will cause internal conflict.
Our observations are primarily influenced by what we want to see. For example, imagine a group of
friends walking down a busy main street; they will all see and notice different things, despite all
heading to the same place.

One person in the group may look in the shop windows, another may focus their attention on the
opposite sex as they walk by, and another might miss it all, because their attention is fixed on
something on their phone. Same street, different perceptions.

Our mental maps can be so different. As we occupy the same world, it is

important for us to realise that our maps are in fact different from others,
and by recognising this we learn how to communicate more effectively.
We all instinctively communicate according to our own map, without considering someone’s map
will be entirely different. When this happens, communication breaks down. Appreciating that other
people have different maps from ours will help us avoid stress and frustration, and will also serve as
a conduit for improved communications between each other.
 THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY

Our maps can improve and expand through new experiences and learnings. By enhancing our maps,
we can change our attitudes towards a specific thing, person or idea. We can call this life
experience, but evolving our maps is not dependant on age.

Maturity is what drives our willingness to consider perspectives that differ from our own. The more
mistakes we make, the more we can learn from them; the more lessons we learn, the more life ex-
perience gained. Our mental maps become more and more detailed and more representative of the
world map the more we open ourselves up to new perspectives and experiences.

QUESTIONS FOR SELF REFLECTION:

1. How much effort does it take to understand other people’s maps?

2. How might you explain ‘the map is not the territory’ concept to another person?

3. What steps could you take today to expand your appreciation for reality, and better recogise
whatever maps (if any) you might have limited yourself to in life?