202503301254 The map is not the territory

Also known as the Map-Territory Relation, this is the concept that any object and its representation are fundamentally different things.¹ "Mistaking the map for the territory" is a logical fallacy that happens when someone confuses the term or representation of something with the thing itself. The central analogy here of maps and the land itself is self-evident.

I've written a good bit about this concerning modeling reality:

• 202203210832 Models are necessarily incomplete
• 202203210831 Models are immutable but reality isn't
• 202203210830 When your model and reality conflict, reality is always right