Maybe your maps need adjustment

by Richard L. Weaver II

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “A map is not the territory it represents.” The author of this phrase is Alford Korzybski, the father of general semantics, and the phrase has much more importance than it would at first appear. When it comes right down to it, many of the problems you face in the world — including your relationship problems — are a direct result of maps not accurately representing the territory they are designed to describe. Fortunately, once you become fully aware of the problem that maps sometimes need adjustment, you can make the necessary alterations and, in many cases, bring your life back into proper alignment.

When I refer to maps, I am talking about maps inside your head. These maps represent territory outside your head. The more accurate your maps are, the better equipped you are to function within society. The accuracy of your maps is a measure of your sanity. But, remember throughout this discussion that nobody has completely accurate maps. Maybe everyone is just a little “nuts”!

What this means for you is that your perception of reality is not reality itself, but it is your own version of it — your “maps.” Your maps are distorted because you jump to conclusions with little or no evidence, ignore parts of the territory, see only what you want to see, see things as black and white rather than in shades of gray, and apply labels to people and situations and then refuse to see beyond the labels. How do I know you do these things? Because you’re human, and all people do it.

What is important is what Korzybski’s theory about maps and territories clarifies for you. There are five elements, and each one is important in helping you come at the world in a more straightforward, forthright, and unambiguous manner.

The first clarification has to do with how your maps are created. There is so much information in the world that you can’t take it all in, let alone make sense of it all. So what you do is create internal maps of reality that you can refer to as you navigate through your life. Your maps contain countless beliefs, values, generalizations, decisions, and numerous other mental aspects about how you see yourself and your relationship to the world around you. Just like a road map, your “maps” are scaled down versions of reality. As you get more information, your maps change.

The second clarification is that you react to the maps inside your head, not the territory outside your head. You react to the maps and not to what the maps represent. For example, if your maps tell you that an experience will be pleasant, you are more likely to take it in. If they tell you an experience will be unpleasant, there is a greater chance you will avoid it. It isn’t the experience that attracts or repels, it is, instead, your maps of the experience. The same occurs in elections; you look not to the candidates when you choose how to vote, rather, you look to your maps of the candidates.

The third clarification is that no two people can have exactly the same maps. Problems in communication occur when you try to impose your maps upon another person — or other people. Empathizing with others requires learning to recognize the structure of others’ maps — seeing the world through their eyes, thus being able to understand and relate to them respectfully and accurately. It helps to know that their maps are likely to be just as jaundiced by their own interpretations as yours are.

The fourth clarification is that to create personal change requires changing maps. There is a natural and understandable desire to protect old maps. That is because they become comfortable. You know how to navigate with these maps, and replacing them with new ones is a little like trying to find your way around a new supermarket.

Not only are maps comfortable, they are habit forming. Even when they may not be as useful as they could be, you depend on them because they are what you have. You know where the bread, milk, and cereal are supposed to be in the supermarket. Letting maps go causes temporary chaos, but reconfiguring, reconstituting, or reorganizing maps can result in relief from the problems and limitations of old maps — new abilities to deal with what was previously stressful, perplexing, or overwhelming. You learn where things are located in the new supermarket, and your trips there become efficient, effective, and satisfying.

The fifth clarification is that your maps of reality are not who you are — the map is not the territory. Rather, your maps are simply a convenient tool you use to navigate through your life. To understand that your maps are not who you are but simply a navigation tool will help you understand that maps need to go through the chaos and reorganization process for personal growth to occur. It will help you understand that map “changes” do not represent you in the process of falling apart.

The map is not the territory. Trying to hold old maps together creates dysfunctional feelings and behaviors such as fear, depression, anger, anxiety, substance abuse, many physical diseases, and numerous other more serious mental problems.

When you understand the value of having this information, your goal should be to use it to your best advantage. How do you do that? First, avoid jumping to conclusions with little or no evidence. Second, stop making assumptions when you have only experienced part of the territory. Qualify your observations and assumptions. Third, realize that you see only what you want to see, thus, your view is but one small part of the whole. Fourth, understand that seeing things only as black and white eliminates all shades of gray. The world is gray. And, fifth, be cautious when you stereotype people and situations and refuse to see beyond those stereotypes. In doing just these things alone you will contribute to more precise and accurate maps.

Knowing that the map is not the territory will help you look forward to map changes. Why? Because new maps are likely to work better. New maps will allow you to be a happier, more peaceful person. New maps are likely to produce positive change. And because of the relationship between self-concept and perception, new maps will allow you to come at the world more accurately, see things with greater clarity, and understand events, others, and ideas with increased precision.

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Jim Walker’s excellent essay, “Confusing the Map for the Territory,” offers a thorough explanation of the problems that can occur because of confusion between map and territory.

At the Life Coaches Blog, in an essay entitled, “NLP 101: The Map is Not the Territory,” Alvin Soon ends his essay with this paragraph: “If you don’t already hold this belief, pause your disbelief for a moment, and just allow yourself to imagine it’s true that the map is not the territory (even that is not the territory, I know, but let’s test). How would your life be different if you held that belief to be true, emotionally, mentally, socially, physically and spiritually?

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Copyright March, 2009 by And Then Some Publishing L.L.C.